


The Road of Life is Rocky (and you may stumble along the way)

by heyitsdestielmalec



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe, College Roommates, M/M, Platonic turned Romantic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-16 08:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1338181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyitsdestielmalec/pseuds/heyitsdestielmalec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>College!TMI AU</p><p>Alec Lightwood is a junior at the New School of Public Engagement in NYC. His friends are scattered around the city, starting and continuing college, and finding their own ways through the messy tangle that's life. When a tall Asian man comes into Alec's life in the form of a roommate, Alec will be forced to reevaluate the choices he's made for himself. </p><p>Many major characters in the TMI series will be there, as well as some cameos from the TID series characters.</p><p>Alec- The New School of Public Engagement<br/>Magnus- The New School of Public Engagement<br/>Jace- Playing for the NY Giants<br/>Clary- Art Institute of NYC<br/>Isabelle- Fashion Institute of Technology<br/>Simon- New York Institute of Technology</p><p>Those are their colleges. Majors and roommates will be revealed in time.</p><p>Timeline: (2013)<br/>Ch 1: Beginning of Sept---Oct<br/>Ch 2: Thurs, Dec 5th<br/>Ch 3: Fri, Dec 6th<br/>Ch 4: Fri night, Dec 6th---Sat, Dec 7th (morning)<br/>Ch 5: Sat, Dec 7th---Sun, Dec 8th<br/>Ch 6: Wed, Dec 11th<br/>Ch 7: Wed, Dec 18th---Sat, Dec 21<br/>Ch 8: Sat, Dec 22<br/>Ch 9: Tues, Dec 24 (night)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all- not my first fic, and not even my first AU. Please enjoy and leave kudos or reviews or something. My tumblr is far-stranger-poetry.tumblr.com, and I may create one for just this fic series if you all want me to. Title is from Bob Marley's song "Could You Be Loved" if you want to see that.

**Chapter One**

Alec glances around. No roommate to be seen. He looks around the room, mouth twisting into a grimace. It’s about the size of a closet back home, with two beds somehow squeezed onto each side and a desk next to each one. Under the desks are cabinets, ostensibly for clothing. At least Alec didn’t bring much, but his sister would never survive once she got into her room. It was her first year of college, and thankfully she had gotten into a good one that was even in the city. As if on cue, his cell phone rings. He digs it out of his back and sees the name. _Jace_. A thrill runs through him, but he tamps it down. There isn’t anything to be excited about anyway.

“Alec, my man!” Alec rolls his eyes, thankful that Jace can’t actually see him.

“Hey, Jace.”

“Yo, are you in your dorm yet?” Alec nods, remembers Jace can’t see him again, and then responds with a yes. “Then open your bag. Yeah, the blue one. The one that had all of your stuff in it!” Jace sounds mildly exasperated. Alec digs into his back. “Okay, you have it? Good. There should be a brown box in there, and-“ the voice goes fuzzy and scratchy, and then Jace is back. “Sorry, one of my friends asked me if I wanted KFC for dinner. Just so you know, I said yes.” Alec rolls his eyes again, and for a second he worries that the position is going to be permanent. Jace continues, pleased with himself. “Okay, you have the box?” Alec maneuvers the phone between his ear and shoulder and holds the box between his two pale hands.

“I have it,” he says suspiciously.

“Open it,” Jace says, sounding even MORE pleased with himself. Alec does and almost drops it. It’s filled to the brim with _condoms_ , of all size and kind. Jace, evidently, can tell that Alec opened it and says, “What do you think? I thought, for your third year of college, you might FINALLY need them-“

“Ahem,” an unfamiliar voice coughs from the door. Alec spins around, dropping the phone and the box of- ugh, condoms- on the floor before seeing the person in the door. It’s a tall Asian boy- well, man. His hair is gelled and his eyes sparkle from underneath long lashes dusted with something, glittery makeup probably. He’s wearing sinfully tight jeans and a white ribbed tank top with a light brown, shrunken leather jacket on top. He glances at the floor, seeing the condoms, and his lips part a bit before looking back up at Alec. “Um.” Alec’s face must be bright red, because that’s how it feels.

“Alec?” Jace’s voice comes from the phone, sounding tinny. “You still there, man?” Alec grabs the phone and sweeps the condoms behind him in one swoop.

“Jace, I gotta go. Bye,” he says, disconnecting and shoving the phone in his pocket. “Okay. Who are you?” he demands of the Asian boy.

“Magnus Bane. I believe you’re my roommate?” The boy- Magnus- holds out a hand with nails that look professionally done. Not that Alec would know. “Nice to meet you, too.” Alec shakes his hand limply and retreats to the floor picking up the condoms and willing his blush to go away. He doesn’t expect help, which is why he falls over when he feels a bump to his shoulder. “Oh God. Sorry!” Magnus says, running a hand through his hair and picking up a few more. His brow wrinkles. “Not to pry or anything, but why _do_ you have condoms all over the floor?” Alec sighs.

“The guy I was chatting with? On the phone? My adopted brother. I’m a junior- he’s a sophomore- and he thought it’d be hilarious to give me condoms as a gift for my third year of college. And then I was surprised when you came in, so… I dropped them.” Magnus nods as if this is an everyday occurrence.

“What’s your name, by the way? You never actually said.” Alec’s eyebrows shoot up.

“Ah, God, sorry. I’m Alexander Lightwood, but everyone calls me Alec.” Magnus assesses Alec in a way that makes him feel the slightest bit uncomfortable, but he supposes that’s only fair because the way Magnus stands up and bends over to put the condoms back in the box is uncomfortable for Alec too. “What time is it?” Magnus checks a glittery watch on his wrist.

“Five thirty. I’m going to get some dinner- you want?” Alec scrambles up from the floor and dusts himself off.

“I’ll come with.” The two make their way outside of the dorm room, not speaking. Alec suddenly wishes he is wearing something a bit thicker than a button down and jeans. Magnus looks comfortable, much more so than Alec. They walk along the stone path for a few minutes silently, Alec’s feet crunching on leaves and Magnus stepping gracefully around them. Alec is perfectly content with the silence; in fact, it’s a welcome refuge from the barrage of texts he’d been exchanging and receiving with their little group of five. He misses some of them already. Of course, he won’t miss Simon, Clary’s idiot friend, or Clary herself. She could go ahead being a bimbo girlfriend of Jace’s.

“So, Alexander. What are you doing here at the New School?” Magnus inquires. It’s a perfectly friendly question, but Alec gets mentally hit by a truck.

“Uh… I write. I’m majoring in some type of writing. I’ve been writing for awhile,” he spits out, wishing he were anywhere else but there. Magnus doesn’t laugh, of course, that would be impolite, but Alec can see him tilt his head down and hide a smile.

“I’m doing fashion design,” Magnus says excitedly. “I’ve always been interested in fashion, and I consider myself quite good. Camille and I were going to start a consulting business together about outfits, but that was in junior high. We were crazy in junior high,” he says wistfully. “Anyway, Tessa smartened us up, and sent me here and Cam to school in, like Rhode Island.” Alec isn’t sure if Camille is a friend or something more, but he’s not about to ask. “Tessa and her boyfriends go to somewhere in the city too. I’ll have to ask where.”

“Boyfriends?” asks Alec, too confused to say nothing.

“Oh, yeah. She’s always dating one of them, and when she’s not, they basically date each other,” says Magnus indifferently. Alec’s mouth gapes, but he closes it quickly. Magnus moves faster now, trying to get somewhere, and Alec follows the best he can. They leave campus, and Alec fingers his cell phone in his back pocket. What if his new roommate is a murderer? What if he uses his cute looks to lure men and women out to dark alleys to kill them? Alec starts slowing down. Magnus glances at him impatiently. “Come on, keep up. It’s not going to close, but it’s popular and fills up really fast,” he tells Alec. Alec doesn’t want to ask where they’re going, but he’s curious all the same. They cross the street, and suddenly this part of the city is looking really familiar. He’s about to say something when they stop outside of a restaurant. But it’s not any restaurant- it’s _Taki’s_. Taki’s! Alec breathes in deeply, taking in the smell of fresh pancakes, coffee, and meat. Magnus looks at him strangely, and Alec blushes. Again.

“I’ve been here. This is… my restaurant. Our restaurant,” he’s quick to correct, because it’s Jace’s and Izzy’s and Clary’s and Simon’s as much as his. Magnus blinks at him, specks of glitter raining down over his tan cheeks before he shrugs and goes inside, pushing the door for Alec. The unexpected kindness from this man he barely knows warms him until he sees Magnus embracing Kaelie- _their_ waitress. No one else’s. Alec knows it’s dumb, knows that of course Kaelie should and would have other patrons, but it feels like an invasion just the same. It’s a bit better once she sees him and her face lights up, and she comes to embrace him and pulls his head into her breasts. Alec has an acute expression of uncomfortableness on when she lets him go, but he’s much happier once she starts talking instead of moving.

“The usual, sweetheart?” she says to Alec. Alec nods. “Black with two sugars and a cheeseburger with nothing but onions, mhm.” Alec nods again. Magnus looks between the two, curiosity evident on his face, but he doesn’t say anything and instead gives his order to Kaelie as well. They slide into a booth on opposite sides. Magnus taps the table rhythmically.

“So, you have a girlfriend?” he asks flippantly. Alec’s eyes widen, and three thoughts run through his head at once. One: Magnus really thinks he has a girlfriend? Wow, way to go Alec. Two: well, at least he isn’t looking at Alec and thinking straight as a board. Three: how has he not picked up on Alec’s feelings yet? God, Alec, not everyone is as perceptive as your younger sister, and you’ve only known him for a half an hour. “… Alec?” Alec starts and looks up at Magnus.

“Ah, sorry. And no, I don’t have a girlfriend,” he says, neglecting to mention that he never will. Magnus nods.

“Okay. Just wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be someone coming into the room and me having to become friends with them on your behalf,” Magnus teases. Alec blushes a little. Blushing happens a lot when Magnus is around, for some reason. It’s not like he likes Magnus or anything, they’ve only known each other for a half an hour. Magnus just has the extraordinary ability to make his face go red as a tomato.

“How about you?” Alec can’t resist asking. “Someone special going to disturb my beauty sleep?” He doesn’t know where this flirty Alec is coming from, but Magnus certainly likes it. A pleased smile comes onto his face, but he shakes his head.

“Nope, no holds on my heart,” he says, almost daring Alec to make one. “Etta and I broke up a long time ago. I’m over it,” he says with a smile. “I’m ready and out there. And, you know, Etta was a girl. But I’m over girls. Boys are much better.” Magnus’s expression dares Alec to say something. Alec swallows.

“Guess I won’t be worrying about a bra strewn around our man cave,” he jokes weakly. “At least not for awhile,” he says quickly, covering himself. He hasn’t come out to anyone except to Isabelle and Clary, and Clary was… an accident. He wasn’t about to come out to his hot roommate who would obviously not be into guys like him. Who was?

“Boys, your food!” Kaelie says brightly, startling Alec so much he almost falls out of his chair. Magnus gives him an odd look and takes their food, setting Alec’s stuff in front of him. Alec gives him a grateful nod and starts eating, sipping his coffee and taking a bite of his burger. Magnus picks his kabob up delicately and takes a bit of the chicken on one end.

Alec sees him glance at the coffee, and Alec blurts out, swallowing, “Do you want some?” Magnus looks at him, surprised, and shakes his head.

“No, thank you.” They eat in silence for a bit, but Alec knows it’s not going to last long based on the track record Magnus has now. In fact, just as Alec thinks that, Magnus asks, “So. Tell me about yourself, Alexander.” The name rolls off of Magnus’s tongue as if it had been for years, and a warm feeling is born in Alec’s stomach.

“Well. I’m the oldest of four- three siblings,” he corrects himself, biting his lip. “There’s me, then Jace- though he’s adopted. Then there’s Isabelle, Izzy, who’s a freshman at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Max… he died last year.” A lump comes to life in his throat. “Anyway, Jace plays baseball for the New York Giants. I… assume you’ve heard of them?” Magnus almost chokes, and Alec’s eyes go wide. “Magnus, are you alright?” Magnus nods, his face red, and wipes his mouth.

“Yes, Alexander, I’m fine. You… just, well, surprised me. Who HASN’T heard of the Giants?” It’s obviously a rhetorical question, but Alec sighs, mentally slapping himself. Magnus grins at him and sips his water. He glances around, looking secretive, but Alec refrains from asking why. Just barely. His question is answered when Magnus pulls out a glittery looking flask and dumps some clear liquid into his water glass. Now Alec can’t resist.

“Is that alcohol?” he asks in a hushed voice. Magnus nods, eyes wide, and then bursts out laughing.

“Yes, Alec, it is alcohol. Vodka, to be more specific. The good kind, a friend sent it down.” Magnus takes a long sip and smacks his lips. Alec is mesmerized for a second and then has the good sense to ask another question.

“Camille?” Magnus nods and takes another sip. Alec concentrates on his food, face burning. Of course someone like Magnus would have alcohol that he puts in his water, he thinks. And of course I’m the kind of person that wouldn’t recognize it.

“Alec, you almost done?” Alec looks down with a start and realizes that he’s actually eaten a lot. He takes two more bites of his burger and gulps down his coffee. He’s been drinking his coffee black with two sugars for years now, so one would think he’d be used to it, but no. Still bitter. He rises, preparing to put his new debit card on the table, but Magnus has already paid and is waiting by the door.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Alec mumbles. “I would have paid. This isn’t a… date.” Not that I would know what one looks like, he thinks to himself.

“Wasn’t it?” says Magnus promptly, and strides out of the restaurant, boot heels clicking against the stone pathway. Alec’s jaw drops and he rushes after Magnus, quite aware that his expression makes him look like a fish. He’s about to say something when Magnus peals into laughter. “Only joking, Alexander. You’re not even my type!” he laughs, hooking Alec’s arm through his and starting to run. Alec is completely sure that he looks as confused as Isabelle did when she wandered into the khaki section. “No colors?” she’d exclaimed. “No _fashion_!” she’d cried into the store, causing Alec to pull her out in a hurry. They run up the stairs to their dorm, Magnus whipping out his key card and swiping it before collapsing on his unmade bed. “Alec, I did not expect to enjoy that so much. Now, do you prefer the right side or the left side?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~One Month Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ALEC, HAVE YOU SEEN MY RED LEATHER JACKET?” Magnus yells. Alec covers his ears.

“You don’t have to yell, we’re in the same room, and yeah. This one or this one?” he asks, holding up two almost identical red jackets. Magnus grabs them both in a huff.

“Alexander, this one is leather. The other one is nylon.” He holds them up respectively. “Know your materials. What if it’s an emergency?” Alec rolls his eyes and pulls up his too-big jeans. Magnus eyes them with distaste, and then his eyes light up. “Tomorrow, we’re going to go shopping. You have a ten o’clock class and a seven o’clock class, and I have an eleven o’clock and four o’clock. We’ll find time. You need clothes,” he says, and his tone leaves no room for argument. Alec slides down in his chair.

“Fine,” he says sulkily. Magnus grins at him. Alec’s phone lights up and buzzes with a text. They both turn towards it at the same time, but Alec grabs it first.

“Who is it?” Magnus demands.

“Simon,” he says with a sigh. The text reads, _hey alec sry to bother u at college and shit but my band and I need a car. can we borrow ur family van thing? imma assume its yes thx bro!_ Alec rolls his eyes and Magnus grabs his cell. Alec watches with amusement as Magnus’s expression changes with each word. “Sorry, just Jace’s girlfriend’s best friend. Oh, and he’s dating my sister. He has this crappy band that he plays with and none of them have cars.” He takes his phone back and plugs it in, watching it glow with charging light for a second before grabbing his laptop and thumping down on his bed. Magnus glances at him, but doesn’t say anything. Alec furrows his eyebrows. “You coming? Thought we were going to do a Netflix marathon. Even got chips and stuff,” he says, gesturing to one of his desk cabinets vaguely. Alec feels comfortable with Magnus now for some reason, comfortable enough to watch Netflix with him and buy him food with asking what he wants, or just assuming that Magnus has nothing going on. Granted, Magnus generally goes to parties, but if he was going to one he would have been gone by now. It’s already seven thirty. Magnus looks supremely uncomfortable and is about to speak when a knock comes at the door.

“Hey!” Magnus cries, springing up to open the door. For the first time, Alec notices that Magnus is dressed quite nicely- or as _nice_ constitutes for Magnus. More _fashionably._ He has on the skinniest dark gold pants, which would look bad on _everyone except him_ , a black shirt with ONE MILLION DOLLARS picked out on it in sequins and the red leather jacket. He has red high tops on as well, and Alec sees a gold hoop in one of his ears. Speaking of ears, Alec’s go red at the tips. “Alec, this is Imasu. Imasu, this is my roomie, Alec. Alec, Imasu. We met in Fashions of Other Cultures,” Magnus says quickly. Alec gives Imasu a perfunctory once over. Imasu is _cute_ , he realizes, with thick dark hair and dark gray eyes. He’s tall, taller than Magnus even, and wearing jeans and a nice T-Shirt. Alec swallows. Imasu holds out a hand.

“Nice to meet you, Alec,” he says. Alec shakes his hand, finding it difficult to make sense of the situation. Magnus looks between the two.

“Imasu and I are going out to dinner. Don’t wait up for me, Alexander,” Magnus says, clapping him on the shoulder and stepping out the door. Imasu nods and Magnus smiles, and then they’re both gone, door shutting behind them. Alec slumps against the pillows, binge-watching Teen Wolf and admiring Derek’s abs forgotten. Magnus has a date. A date, he thinks, hysteria rising. And it’s with a cute guy that he doesn’t like or even know.

“GODDAMMIT,” Alec roars suddenly, upsetting the laptop and hurting his throat mildly. “G- Goddammit.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm... hope you like it? BTW, posts won't be so often. Only for the next few weeks bc I'm on vacation, but I'll let you know when sporadic updates start.

**Chapter Two**

~~~~~~~Two Months Later (beginning of Dec.)~~~~~~~~

Magnus only claps Alec on the shoulder when he has a date.

It’s something Alec notices over the next two months, observing quietly. The dates aren’t often, but they’re there. Magnus generally parties and picks up boys there instead. It’s a good thing Alec sleeps late; smelling the unfamiliar cologne is enough to tip him off anyway. Alec is completely aware that he’s a virgin and that Magnus isn’t; that Magnus goes out on dates and picks up boys and Alec doesn’t; that Alec is a reclusive, shy, awkward boy that stays in his room and Magnus most definitely is not.

“Alexander?” Alec looks up from his notes on the correct use of an apposition comma to see Magnus looking at him, eyes wide. “Are you alright?” His unusual green-gold eyes flick down to Alec’s hands and back to his pale face. Alec glances down at his hands and his eyes widen in surprise. His hands are clutching the sheets tightly, fingers lost in the white fabric.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m fine.” Alec forces himself to let go of the sheets and gives Magnus an embarrassed smile. The Asian man relaxes, lying back down in his own canary yellow sheets. Magnus’s side of the room was a riot of color: the sheets, rainbow curtains over his window, an electric blue make up table squeezed in over his bed, and a thick woolen rug stretching in between their two beds. Alec’s, in comparison, looked like a drought. White sheets, a navy bedspread and navy pillows, and no curtains.

“If you say so,” Magnus says, seemingly unconvinced. “Actually, hey, I’ve been meaning to mention something to you. Camille invited me up to her design school and said I could bring someone. Imasu-“ They were dating again. It seemed as if Magnus had boyfriends in between Imasu, but Imasu was always there when Magnus inevitably was dumped or broke up with them. Alec hated Imasu. “- can’t go, he has to go visit his family in Peru this weekend. So… I thought I would ask you.” Alec gapes at Magnus for a moment, and then remembers to shut his mouth. “That is, if you want to,” Magnus adds.

“Of course I do,” Alec assures him. “It was just unexpected. I would love to. And I’ve heard so much about Camille. It would be nice to meet her,” he gushes, not sure where the gushing is coming from but it looks like Magnus likes it. Magnus looks pleased.

“Then it’s settled. We leave tomorrow,” he says, looking happy. Alec furrows his eyebrows.

“Tomorrow?” Magnus nods.

“It’s only a three and a half hour drive. We can split the time and I don’t care whose car we take. We’ll leave tomorrow, Friday afternoon, and come back Sunday. If you need to do homework or some shit like that, you can do it while we’re driving or while we’re there-“

“Magnus. I just can’t leave NYC at a moment’s notice,” Alec says patiently, trying to placate his roommate. “I have a life here. I have friends-“

“Do you?” asks Magnus shrewdly. He has a calculating look on his face, one Alec doesn’t like. “I’ve never met any of your siblings, or their friends. You’ve never had anyone over- and God knows I’m totally fine if you do, based on how often I do it. You’ve finished years worth of TV shows in a few months instead of doing anything _remotely_ social. I mean, I realize you might not be the most social person, but I think the only person you’ve met outside of this dorm room you’ve met is Imasu, _my_ boyfriend.” Alec stares at him, anger beginning to knot itself in a ball inside his chest. Then he picks up his laptop, slides his cell phone in his pocket, and walks out of the room after stuffing his feet into sneakers. He doesn’t look back as he hears Magnus skid out into the hall. “Hey, wait, Alec-“ Alec doesn’t stay to hear the rest.

There’s a buzzing sound in his ears that’s unfamiliar but comforting, guiding him to his car and easing him onto the road. He feels more comfortable when he pulls into Isabelle’s college dorm building, stepping out of the car and fingering his key ring. He had his dorm key, Isabelle’s dorm key, Jace’s apartment key, Simon and Jordan’s bachelor pad key, his car keys, Clary’s house key, and his own home keys in Brooklyn. He found the one painted bright magenta and held on to it while he advanced through the halls, fending off wary looks from the other girls in the dorm. He knocked on Isabelle’s door- she was sharing with a chick named Maia Roberts. A girl popped out from around a corner. “Hey, I’m Aline Penhallow,” she says easily, grinning. “I live across from them with Helen Blackthorn. Isabelle should be here,” she says, pushing the door a bit. It swings open creakily, and Alec pockets his keys with a sigh and steps in, nodding to Aline.

“Alec!” Isabelle bounds across the tiny room and embraces him. “What brings you here? Sorry about the mess,” she says, looking around disdainfully, “but my roomie is out with her boyfriend until Sunday and there’s really no reason to keep clean.” Alec sits down in her chair carefully, sneezing at the powder that rises when he hits the chair.

“I’m mad at my roommate,” he says truthfully. He evades the why, but of course Isabelle picks up on it and asks him promptly. He sighs. “He implied that I didn’t have a life, right after he asked me to go to Rhode Island to see his old friend. I said that I couldn’t just leave my life behind at a moment’s notice, and he listed all these reasons why.” Isabelle flops down on the bed, her black hair fanned out behind her.

“Alec… I’ve heard a little about your roommate. He’s a partier, right? And he’s gay too? So super flamboyant and stuff, which is totally fine. It just means he likes to party. You don’t, and he doesn’t get that. He doesn’t know about… you… and I’m betting you’re trying to keep him from finding out the best you can. Though staring at Tyler Hoechlin’s abs are not going to convince him you’re on the straight and narrow,” she tells him sternly. He blushes. “They are quite nice, though. Maia really likes Teen Wolf as well. You two should geek out about it someday. Anyway, go on the trip to Rhode Island. Don’t talk about this argument unless he brings it up directly. Don’t ignore him, though, just be polite. And if you need to fake a date at any point, just call me. I’ll set you up with someone cute and fake, and they’ll take you here and we’ll go from there. Okay?” Alec nods, head swirling with instructions.

“Okay. Thanks, sis,” he says, dropping a kiss on Isabelle’s head and wheeling towards the door. “I should get back and work. I have a 800 word paper due Friday night that I haven’t started on a painful childhood memory.” Isabelle purses her lips.

“Well, good luck thinking of one,” she says, waving from her bed. “Bye, Alec. Come by more often!” she calls. He sticks out his tongue and walks to his car, whistling. He starts driving, not knowing whether he was going back to the dorm or not, and after aimless driving decides to stop by Jace’s and see if he’s home. He smiles to the doorman and says he’s Jace Herondale’s adopted brother. Once Alec flashes a key, he’s good to go and gets in the elevator. Jace owns the penthouse at the top, and Alec fishes the key out and unlocks the door.

“Hey, who is it?” Jace’s deep voice rings through the apartment, and Alec resists the urge to sigh in relief.

“Hey, it’s me,” he calls. “Just Alec,” he says quietly. “Just me.” Jace jumps down the stairs, just in jeans and hopefully underwear.

“Sorry, I was showering and didn’t know anyone was coming over,” Jace says, pulling up his pants and running a hand through his hair, droplets of water flying off and landing on his bare chest. Tattoos outline his muscles and show starkly against his tan skin. They’re runic, in some language Alec doesn’t know. “Anyway, what’s up?” Alec tears his eyes away from Jace’s torso and up to his face.

“Nothing much. Roommate problems. Isabelle says hello,” he adds, loitering in the hall. He doesn’t know if he’s welcome to stay or not and decides he actually doesn’t want to.

“Okay,” Jace says, shrugging. “You can stay here if you want, but I have to go. Team meeting and all that crap. You wanna come?” Alec shakes his head.

“I’ll go. Nice seeing you, though,” Alec says, turning around to the door. “See ya.” He walks out and drives back to his dorm, fingers tapping on his phone. As he gets out, it buzzes. _yo alec thx for lettin us use the car, all the guys say hey_. Alec rolls his eyes and doesn’t text back. He holds his laptop close to him, going up the stairs and unlocking his door hesitantly. Magnus isn’t inside, and Alec breathes a sigh of relief. Just as he collapses on the bed, plugging in his laptop and burying his face among the pillows, the door opens. He sits up, confused, and then Magnus comes in with a towel around his waist and another one around his neck.

“Alec?” Magnus says, looking at him. “Oh, hey. I didn’t expect you back so… soon,” Magnus says, looking a little embarrassed. Alec can’t imagine why- Magnus has the perfect body- but his confusion is quickly erased when Imasu comes in after Magnus, ducking a little to get under the doorframe. A towel is around his waist as well, and Alec immediately gets the drift.

“Oh my God. Okay, I can go-“ Alec starts, picking his laptop back up and yanking the cord off savagely.

“It’s fine,” Imasu interrupts with his deep voice. “I was about to leave anyway, I have to get down to the airport in a few hours and I haven’t started packing.” Magnus looks between the two and settles on Imasu, a slightly desperate look on his face. He stands on his tip toes and whispers something into Imasu’s ear. Imasu laughs, smiling, and says out loud, “Magnus, just text me. We can work something out that way.” Magnus pouts, and Alec has to look away because it’s so hot and adorable at the same time that he can’t bear to see that it’s not aimed at him.

“Fine,” Magnus says shortly, and kisses him. Alec averts his eyes, feeling that he’s intruding on what must be a private moment. Evidently, something else begins to happen, because on of them- Imasu, probably- breaks away with a groan.

“Magnus-“ he says, cementing Alec’s suspicion- “we have company. And you know I’m not voyeuristic like that.” Magnus kisses him again, or so Alec thinks because now he’s focusing on that unhappy memory paper that has nothing written on it.

“Alright. _Adios_ , Imasu,” Magnus calls, blowing a kiss. Then he turns back to Alec, the towel loose around his waist. “Sorry bout that, Alec dear,” he says easily, turning to his desk and pulling on underwear over his towel. Alec watches him for a moment and then offers to hold the towel while Magnus gets dressed. Generally, they don’t have that problem: they shower and get dressed at the same time, so neither of them look at each other. But Alec upset the system by showering that morning, and Magnus upset it by showering with Imasu. Magnus wriggles from behind the towel, and Alec pulls it away. Magnus is shirtless, but with the skinniest dark wash jeans on Alec’s ever seen. Neon socks adorn his feet, and he flops back on his bed, leaving Alec to drape the towel carefully over his desk chair and retreat to his own bed. He carefully avoids looking at Magnus’s bare chest, pulling his laptop closer to him and letting the warmth soak through the blanket to his legs. Magnus watches him impassively, and Alec’s cheeks warm.

“What?” he finally asks, not able to stand it anymore. Magnus looks into his eyes unreadably, and Alec sighs. “Whatever. I have to write a paper,” he excuses, staring back down at his laptop. He has no inspiration, though there are plenty of unhappy memories. Suddenly, a name comes to him, and he types it in bolded letters.

**_A Million Little Paper Cuts_ **   
_I am eight years old. My sister is six and my adopted brother is seven. My father stands over me, shouting, and I block him out with thoughts of karate and hitting the punching bags, slicing through the wood blocks without sweating. My mother is in the room too, her belly swollen with my soon to be little brother Max. I don’t like the name Max, it seems too girly for a boy. Though Alexander is too, and that’s my name. My father slaps me once, and I cringe back, shielding my face with one hand and holding another out in front. I don’t know what I will do if he hits me again. I know in theory how to defeat a bigger opponent, but I’ve never actually done it and I don’t want to practice on my own dad. My mother reaches out with a hand, keeping another on her belly, and I think she wants to protect me but my unborn brother needs to be protected too. Why? My dad has never hit her, and he won’t with my brother in her belly. I wish Jace or Izzy were here, they would know what to do and maybe we could all take him down at once. My father grips my face with two hands and kneels down to my level. “Alec,” he says, not Alexander. Barely anyone calls me Alexander, maybe because it’s too girly. But I’m not girly. How is liking boys girly? If anything I think it would be more manly, having two boys instead of one in the family so that we can both do everything that needs a boy and not need any of the girly stuff like Barbies or makeup. “- you can fight it,” he says. “I know you’re strong, I know you take karate with Jace and Isabelle and I know you can fight. Beat it, Alec, beat what’s inside of you.” I know suddenly that it’s not my karate he’s talking about, it’s that I like boys. Why is it such a big deal? Girls have cooties anyway. “Alec, are you listening to me?” he asks. I croak out a yes and he stares into my eyes, dark brown into blue. My eyes are blue and his are brown, why is that? Isabelle has black eyes and Jace has amber, and my mother has black eyes like Izzy and Jace is adopted. Is having blue eyes bad? I don’t want blue eyes if they’re bad. Are they girly? Do they make me like boys? Izzy likes boys but she’s a girl. And Jace likes girls but he’s a boy. “Fight it, Alec. When I come back from Germany, I want good progress made, okay?” he says, and I nod numbly as well as I can. His fingers tighten and I resist the urge to cry out, because crying when you’re hurt is girly and I don’t want to do that because then my father might think there’s more wrong with me. My father rises and I touch my face, it hurts. There’s tenderness in one spot underneath my chin, next to my neck, and I run out of the room without a good bye even though it’s not polite. I hear snippets of my mother and father’s conversation even though they’re down the hall- “I don’t want a gay-“ “Robert, be reasonable-“ “I heard it’s curable-“ “Goddammit, my son is not going though that-“ “He will if it’s best for him,” my father says and I hear him walk out of the room. I leave the bathroom and sprint to my room, as fast or faster than I am when I race Izzy and Jace through the halls because I know I shouldn’t be there when my dad is angry. I hear him stomp to the kitchen and hear something fizzing, and that’s the last I hear because then I run into Izzy and she catches me even though I’m bigger than her. “Alec, are you okay?” she asks me, and it’s the same question she asks me eight years later when I stumble into her room bloody and bruised. “It’s not something I can avoid,” I cry out when she asks me if I could run instead of stay and bear it. “I have to stay. He has to have at least that much respect for me,” and she clucks while she cleans the blood off of my jaw like she’s done so many times before. “Boys are so dumb,” she tells me. “That’s idiotic. Save yourself.” “I can’t,” I tell her right back. “It’s not just the physical violence, it’s everything. I walk into the room when mom is reading with Max and she stops so that I can leave. Clary is always asking me if I can help her with fashion- I mean, me? Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I have built in fashion sense. It’s not just the beatings, Isabelle- it’s a million little paper cuts every day.”_

Alec looks up and almost jumps straight into the air once he realizes that Magnus is sitting right next to him. “Christ, Magnus-“ he splutters. “What are you doing?” He angles the laptop away from his roommate and Magnus glares at him.

“I was about to start reading that.” Alec shuts the laptop quickly. “Why can’t I read it?” Magnus complains, looking up and Alec and slumping against the pillows. Alec’s eyes widen.

“It’s personal,” he says shortly, putting the laptop carefully on his desk and not knowing what to do next. Magnus is lying on his bed- his _bed_!- and Alec doesn’t know whether he should lie down or get up. With a sigh, Magnus decides for them and gets up, throwing the covers off.

“A million little paper cuts,” Magnus says thoughtfully. “I like it.”

End of Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

~~~~~~~~~~~~Next day, during car ride~~~~~~~~~~~

 

         Alec yawns, running a hand through his hair and then sitting up. He bumps his head on the ceiling- what? He rubs his eyes and looks around, and then remembers where he is. He’s about halfway into the drive to Rhode Island with Magnus, who’s driving. “Oh, Magnus,” he says, holding back another yawn, “I can drive. Let’s stop for gas and switch.”

 

         “Okay,” Magnus agrees readily, stepping on the gas. Alec slips his feet back into his shoes, finding that they had fallen off sometime in between falling asleep and waking up. The Shell sign flashes on the interstate road they’re on, and Magnus pulls in, easing the car into the available spot. Alec gets out, stretches, and goes into the little convenience store to pee and get food. He goes into the dingy bathroom and pees, washing his hands vigorously afterwards. He zips his fly and then walks outside the bathroom, making sure the ten dollar bill is still in his pocket. He selects a pack of Twizzlers for himself and then gets Magnus the Sprees he’d asked for. He grabs two Cokes and then pays, going back outside and squinting in the sunshine. Magnus is sitting on the hood of the car, texting. Alec dumps the food in the front seat and sits next to Magnus.

 

         “Who is it?” Alec asks shyly, peering over at Magnus’s phone.

 

         “Imasu. But you don’t want to read it,” said Magnus, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Alec blushes a little and then pulls out his phone to text Isabelle. _Hey lil sis,_ he types, and then sends. He doesn’t have to wait long before it buzzes. _hola big bro. how’s the car ride w magnus goin?_ His fingers hover over the touch keys, and he doesn’t know quite what to say. _It’s going fine,_ he types, and then stops. _I’m taking my driving turn now. We’ll be in Rhode Island by seven._ He hits send and then turns to ask Magnus if he’s ready to leave, but Magnus isn’t there. His dark eyebrows crinkle in confusion until he sees Magnus come out the convenience shop door, looking red but refreshed. Alec doesn’t understand until he swings into the car and finds Magnus zipping up his own fly. His cheeks redden and he stares out the window, putting the car into gear mechanically and turning back onto the interstate. Magnus doesn’t text anymore, instead putting his seat back and reclining. His long frame stretches out to fill the longer space, and Alec refuses to let himself look. His eyes do catch flashes of tan skin exposed when Magnus stretches, or his cotton pants being stretched to the limit by Magnus.

 

Alec puts music on quietly and taps his foot to the beat, wondering if Magnus is asleep. He steals a look over and realizes that Magnus’s breathing has gotten much more even and relaxed in the last half an hour, and that he is, in fact, asleep. Alec puts the car into cruise but keeps an eye on the road, checking in on it every once in a while. Magnus is lying now so that he faces Alec, with the most relaxed expression Alec has ever seen on his face. Hesitantly, Alec reaches over and brushes a lock of hair behind Magnus’s ear, reveling in the silkiness and then snatching his hand away when he’s done. He can’t develop a crush on his roommate for several reasons. One, Magnus has a _boyfriend._ A really cute one, too. Two, they’re roommates! The awkwardness levels would be through the roof. He turns away from Magnus resolutely and steps on the gas, hoping to get them there in less than 80 minutes.

 

         “Hmmm,” Magnus groans, and rolls over. Alec is surprised- Magnus is generally a deep sleeper- but doesn’t object. Instead, his eyes land on Magnus’s phone. It’s decorated with glitter and sparkles and rhinestones, letting the sun shine off of every part. Alec takes it in his hand, the ridged edges of the fake gems cutting into his hand. Should I? he thinks, pressing the home button and letting the lock screen picture of Imasu and Magnus dancing together and laughing into the camera come into view. Bile rises into Alec’s throat, but he presses on. He knows the password- BANE, or 2263- and keys it in. Magnus has several unread messages and unanswered voicemails, and so many notifications Alec loses count. His eye catches on an app called the DRUNK-O-METER, which Alec has never needed and probably never will. He scrolls around idly, and then clicks on the messages button. There are several unread ones, but Alec has no interest in those. He looks at his own contact- it’s just **Alec Lightwood,** with nothing special on it. Imasu’s is **IMASU Morales** with several emoticons and different numbers and emails, and an address. Alec clicks on Imasu’s conversation with a small sense of dread. It’s not terrible, the last few messages, mostly _ily_ or _xo,_ but as he scrolls farther and farther up the messages get progressively dirtier. Alec puts the phone away hurriedly, locking it and putting it where he found it.

 

He concentrates on the road, humming along to the music and then singing. “ _… before you met me, I was alright but things were kinda heavy, you brought me to life, now every February, you’ll be my Valentine, Valentine-_ “ he stops when he sees Magnus watching him lazily, his unusual eyes half closed.

 

“You’re a cute singer,” Magnus mumbles, before closing his eyes again. Alec’s mouth opens and closes, like a fish. _Cute singer._ Who would have thought? Alec drives while Magnus sleeps, watching the road. He doesn’t sing again, though Magnus’s voice rings in his ears.

 

He plugs the address into the GPS right as Magnus is beginning to wake up, stretching and yawning. “Hey, sleepyhead,” Alec says to him, pressing GO on the GPS and waiting for it to guide him. It beeps when it’s ready and he follows the path it guides him in.

 

“Where are we?” Magnus asks, struggling to sit up and then deciding not to try. He lies there, watching Alec drive.

 

“Rhode Island, of course. We’re probably about ten minutes away form Camille’s, which is why I put in the address,” he explains. Magnus smiles happily.

 

“Finally. I haven’t seen Camille in months,” he says, staring out the window. Alec feels a burst of compassion and then remembers they’re about to see her, so there’s no need to feel bad. The GPS beeps and they pull up at a sorority house. A bunch of girls are out front, playing soccer on the front lawn. Alec watches them impassively and Magnus pokes him in the arm. “See anyone you like?” he teases. Alec blushes bright red and parallel parks. He gets out and stretches, enjoying the sunlight on his skin. He’s only wearing a T-Shirt, cut off jeans, and flip-flops. He gets his bag from the back and shut the doors, following Magnus inside and fending off the whispers of excited girls following them. He has never met Camille- or seen pictures, he realizes, but hears Magnus’s excited yell and then a girl’s excited scream.

 

“MAGNUS!”

 

“CAMILLE! Darling, I haven’t seen you in ages,” Magnus says, hugging Camille hard. Alec hangs out awkwardly in the doorway, watching them embrace. They hold each other at arm’s length and admire each other. Alec gets tapped on the arm by a slight brunette, and she leads him away quietly.

 

“Hi, I’m Sophie,” she says quietly. He notices the long scar on the side of her cheek and decides not to ask. “You’re Alec. Camille’s said a lot about Magnus and apparently he mentioned you, actually.” Alec feels a spark of happiness inside him. She shows him a room. It has one bed and a dresser. “This is the guest room. You and Magnus are going to have to share….” Sophie says other things, but he’s not paying attention. Him and Magnus. Sharing a bed. One bed. Sharing! Oh God.

 

“Alec, hello,” says an unfamiliar voice. “I’m Camille Belcourt, one of Magnus’s closest and oldest friends. It is a complete pleasure to meet you,” she says, kissing Alec on the cheek and hugging him. Alec jerks like he’s been given an electric shock; Magnus tries and fails to conceal laughter.

 

“Cami, Cami. Alec isn’t into personal touching,” he laughs, pulling Camille away from Alec playfully. “He’s a bit private. But don’t worry, we’ll be able to stand sleeping in the same bed for the next two nights,” he says, laughing again. Alec goes red, but manages to nod.

 

“We’ll be fine,” he nods, scratching his head. He puts his bag down next to the bed and flops down on it. “Damn, I’m tired. Driving takes it out of me,” he groans, closing his eyes. He misses the secret smile the two friends exchange and then the way they creep up on him and grab each of his arms.

 

“Yeah, don’t think so. First we’re going to go shopping, and then we’re going to go clubbing,” Magnus says with relish. Camille squeals.

 

“Yes! There are some cute stores here and I know the best clubs,” Camille says, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. Alec sighs.

 

“And I _have_ to come?”

 

“YES!” They chorus, pulling him up. Magnus eyes him up and down with a little bit of distaste. “What else do you have to wear, Alexander?” Alec shrugs, blushing.

 

“Nothing better than this,” he says, smiling. Magnus and Camille trade exasperated looks.

 

“All the more reason to go shopping,” Camille says superiorly. “Now come on. Get shoes on. Clubs open in a half an hour, but we’re not going to make that. We’ll aim for nine thirty, and that only gives us an hour and a half. We’re cutting it close,” she says over her shoulder, walking out of the room. “I’m changing. Magnus, you should too. Alec…” her tone is despairing. “We’ll find something for you, Alec.” Magnus shuts the door and goes to his side, throwing off clothes as he goes. Alec suddenly realizes that it’s probably impolite to stare at Magnus changing, no matter how hot he looks doing it. He decides that it’s useless to change and slips his credit card into one pocket and his cell in the other. Then he texts Izzy. _Magnus and Co. are taking me shopping. Help._ She responds immediately. _good, u need it. have fun, get some cute stuff. xo._ He stuffs his phone into his pocket. Of course Isabelle wouldn’t help, she loves shopping. Neither would Jace, he would just tell him to hit on Camille. He waits until Magnus is done changing and follows him outside, wishing they didn’t have to get in the car again.

 

“Hey, Camille? How far away are the stores?” he asks, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He is wearing sneakers…

 

“Less than a mile. Why?” she asks suspiciously. Alec grins happily.

 

“I’m going to run.” Magnus comes out then, thanking one of the girls and going to stand next to Camille curiously.

 

“You’re going to _what?_ No way.” Alec starts stretching, loosening his muscles up. Camille looks at him disbelievingly.

 

“Yes way. I need to exercise, and this’ll work. Otherwise I’ll be really antsy when we shop, and I know you two don’t want that,” he says confidently. He’s almost never confident around Magnus now, now that’s he’s hyperaware of the fact that his roommate looks like a Greek God and acts like Dionysus: parties, drinks, and picks up people like they’re leaves off the ground.

 

Magnus is the first to surrender. “Fine,” he concedes. “Alec runs fast. He’ll probably beat us there. Fine with me, Alexander,” he says, smiling. He steps in front of Alec and bends down to whisper in his ear. Alec would swear that his ear suddenly developed ten million more nerve endings as Magnus’s lips touched there. “Beat us there, it’ll show Camille what you’re made of.” Then he steps back, still smiling, and rejoins Camille. She throws her hands in the air.

 

“Fine, fine. But you don’t know how to get there,” she points out. Alec sighs.

 

“How many malls can there be in this little college town?” Alec asks, rolling his eyes. “I’ll find the car. And I have my cell, I’ll text Magnus if I have to. It’ll work out, don’t over analyze. See you there,” he calls over his shoulder, starting to jog.

 

His muscles begin to loosen almost immediately, and he starts going a little faster. He keeps to the sidewalk, not wanting to get run over, and endorphins start shooting through his body almost immediately. His ears prick up as he hears whoops and yells. “AYYY,” yells Magnus. Suddenly Eye of the Tiger is blasting, and Alec feels his cheeks go even redder than they are already because of the running.

 

“See you at the mall, Alec,” screams Camille, and the car pulls ahead of him. Alec grunts in return and pushes himself to go faster. One advantage of running: no lights. He sprints past their car and allows himself to slow down a tiny bit because he’s breathing hard. His phone buzzes, but he ignores it. It buzzes again. And again. And again. It must be Magnus, he thinks, because no one else would text him that many times in a row except maybe Izzy. But he had just talked to her, so it didn’t count. Now his phone is ringing, and he keeps running while fumbling for it in his pocket. He presses ACCEPT and puts it on speaker.

 

“You have a cute ass, Mr. Lightwood,” Camille hollers out of the phone. “Doesn’t he, Magnus?” But Magnus’s answer is lost to the wind because Alec’s thumb slips and presses END. He clenches his teeth and pushes himself to go faster, losing himself in the running. Soon he starts losing track of where he’s going and just concentrates on the footfalls that he hears. _Thump. Thump. Thump._ He wheels a corner and almost runs straight into someone. The person- he can see it’s a boy, now- luckily had stepped aside before being run over by Alec.

 

“Oh- oh. Hi,” says the guy, looking surprised. Alec doesn’t blame him.

 

“Alec,” Alec says, offering him a hand. The guy shakes it, bemused.

 

“Ralf Scott. Um, if I can ask, why are you running so fast?” Alec grins, already jogging in place.

 

“I’m racing two of my friends, my legs against their car. Camille Belcourt, you might know her and- dammit!” He glances at the guy desperately as the familiar car rushes past. “I have to go, they just passed me. Uh, bye? Sorry for running into you,” he shouts over his shoulder as he speeds up. To his astonishment, the guy- Ralf- starts sprinting with him, keeping time, Alec pushes to go a little faster, and Ralf adjusts his own speed.

 

“Listen- sorry, I know this isn’t a good time- but could you put in a good word for me with Camille? I like her, actually, and if you know her-“

 

“Sure, sure, whatever,” grunts Alec. This guy is an annoyance. He looks up to see the car turning a corner. “Dude, I have to go,” he throws over his shoulder as he speeds up. His heart is pounding, sweat is running off of his body, and Alec feels better than he has in days. He catches up to the car as they’re loitering next to a stop sign and flashes them the middle finger, grinning the whole time. Camille gives him the middle finger as he races away, squinting to see the signs of stores in the distance. He pushes himself to go faster and can feel his muscles spraining. He’s a good sprinter and long distance runner, but not really both at a time. Alec begins to slow down, needing to, not just because they’re far behind him. He slows to a jog as he passes the sign saying LUCKY BRAND, slowing to a stop soon after. “Christ, I need to run more,” he pants to himself. Camille and Magnus cruise up beside him as he walks to the shops.

 

“I suppose you win,” says Camille, sounding surprised. “Nice job. Magnus and I are going to go park, you can… just follow us, okay?” Alec nods and follows their car at walk, his muscles screaming in protest anyway. Magnus and Camille step out of the car at the same time, Camille flipping her hair over her shoulder and Magnus smiling like he’s won the lottery.

 

“Hey, Alexander. I didn’t know you could run like that,” Magnus says to him, impressed. Alec shrugs, trying to make it seem like no big deal.

 

“I used to track and cross country,” he says, biting his lip. “I wasn’t the best, though. And I did karate, and soccer, and… well, you don’t want to hear about my athletic achievements, he says, embarrassed. Magnus elbows him.

 

“Why not, superstar? You’ve done everything,” he teases. Alec rolls his eyes. “Camille and I haven’t done anything sportswise, really, but from junior high through high school we opened a fashion consulting business. It was actually quite lucrative, and we got a lot of stuff out of that.” Camille grins.

 

“Alright, come on. No more boasting, though I do like to boast,” she giggled. “Where to first, Magnus?”

 

For the next hour, Alec is shepherded from store to store, forced to try on clothes that are _way too small_ but that Magnus and Camille insist fit him “… like they’re supposed to. You know, you’re wearing stuff that’s a size too big. I haven’t got any idea why, you have one of the best bodies I’ve ever seen. Magnus, look at these abs!” Camille enthuses. Alec blushes and turns away. It’s a compliment, but in front of Magnus he doesn’t want Camille throwing niceties about his body at him left and right. Magnus turns to look, but Alec has already put his shirt back on.

 

“Okay, we’re done,” Camille proclaims, holding at least five bags in each of her hands. Magnus has the same, if not _more._ Alec has nothing, because all of his clothes are with them. He did pay for whatever he got, but Magnus and Camille would stuff it into their bags before Alec could take it and get a good look at what he was supposed to wear.

 

“Are there bathrooms we can change in?” asks Magnus, expertly wielding his bags. Camille nods.

 

“Mhm. Public ones, down there, but I can probably convince my manager at Gucci to let us change there-“ and that, apparently, is all Magnus needs to hear because they all turn around and go straight back to Gucci. Camille, as promised, gets them three changing rooms at the back. She rummages through the bags and stuffs different items into one small bag, which she then hands to Alec. “Magnus, I trust you can take care of yourself. Alec, honey, not you. Change into this and come back out so we can see you, okay?” Alec nods, slightly confused, and goes into his dressing room. He pulls out pants first and stares at them. They are _definitely_ too small, and he stretches them out a little bit. There’s no visible difference, but Alec has to try. He has the feeling that Camille’s wrath isn’t something he wants to test.

 

He struggles into the pants, pulling them up over his thighs and butt before letting them cling to his hips. No, _cling_ is the wrong word: more like _hug,_ or _squeeze,_ or _slowly eat away at Alec until there’s no skin left._ He looks in the mirror. They hug his legs like they’re latex gloves, or a skintight suit. They’re black and end at his ankles. He pulls out the next thing, trying not to move his legs lest he fall over from lack of circulation. It’s a deep blue sweater, but made of superfine material. _Probably so I don’t get hot while I… do what? Go clubbing? What does that even mean?_ He pulls it on and is barely surprised to see that the v-neck goes down much farther than it should, dipping down to right where his ribcage ends. There’s no tank top, but there are a pair of boots (with socks stuffed into them, thank God), a silver necklace, and some… makeup? He puts on the boots and manages to fasten the necklace without help. “Camille? Why is there makeup in here?”

 

“It’s for you, silly,” says Magnus from outside. “Now come on out so we can see. Don’t put on the makeup, we’ll do that. Alec puts his old clothes in the bag and clutches the makeup in his hand, stepping out. “Whoa. Stop right there. Drop the bag and makeup. _Camille,_ ” Magnus says with some sense of urgency. His eyes never leave Alec’s face, body, and clothes, and Alec starts to feel self-conscious under Magnus’s penetrating gaze. Camille steps out, wearing a super short, dark red dress. Her eyes widen at Alec.

 

“Alec- Lightwood, is it? Jesus Christ. You look so damn hot that if I didn’t live here, I would move to NYC. I mean, look at yourself.” She and Magnus walk around him, and Alec puts his hands in his back pockets. Camille stops him with a flick of her pale wrist. “Stop, Alec. Now take your left hand out of your pocket and put it on your hip. Stand up straight- no, slouch a little. Make your eyes a little hooded- yes, yes, that’s perfect. Open your mouth a little. Okay, you should be in a porno,” she says matter-of-factly. Alec jumps backwards- literally- and gets out of the position he had been in immediately. Magnus looks at him with another unreadable expression for a moment, and then turns back to his own outfit. Alec admires Magnus for a moment, and then turns to Camille. She blinks at him, narrowing her eyes, and then shakes her head. “Never you mind. Well, I’m done. Magnus? You done? We don’t want to get to the club too late, of course.” Magnus steps back from the mirror and takes hold of his bags.

 

“Let’s go,” he says, eyes skirting to the door. “To the club!” he cheers, leading the way out. Camille blows a kiss to the guy at the register and then takes off after Magnus. The Gucci guy looks at Alec with a bit of sympathy.

 

“Good luck taking those off, bro,” he says, jerking a thumb down to Alec’s pants.

 

“Ugh, I know,” Alec agrees, and then takes off after Camille and Magnus.

 

**End of Chapter Three** _(at 3,763 words)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I did lol. Halfway done with Ch. 4, it should be up soon... also, if you search up and read sauntering-down 's fanfic (it should be canon) "they only want you when you're seventeen" you'll recognize a line of it in the next chapter. So, yeah. Kudos and comments!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Here's chapter 4. Shoutout to @theperksofshadowhunting on instagram for reading this! You rock. Also, my fanstagram is @huntersofshadows if you want to like check it out or something.
> 
> BTW- go read sauntering-down 's fanfic "they only want you when you're seventeen". It's sooooo good, plus you'll recognize one or two quotes from there in here. Comment if you do and what they are!

**Chapter Four**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At the club~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“ARE YOU HAVING FUN?” a voice shouts in Alec’s ear. He turns around and it’s Camille, her dress seemingly even shorter than it had been a few hours ago.

 

“SURE,” Alec yells into her ear. She grins at him and then grabs his shirt, holding on to him.

 

“ARE YOU DRUNK YET?” She asks him. He shakes his head at her, and she makes a face. “WELL, WE NEED TO CHANGE THAT,” she blares, and pushes and shoves her way to the bar. “Can we get him something strong?” she asks. Surprisingly, it’s quieter by the bar. The bartender makes something quickly and slides it over to her. She gives him a five and then pushes the drink over to Alec. He takes a small sip, and can literally feel the alcoholic buzz rushing through him. He takes another sip, and another, until it’s all gone. Camille shoots him a pleased smile. “Come dance,” she says loudly, pulling him. He shrugs. A rational, small part of his brain says, _Alec, don’t dance. You’re going to make a fool of yourself, it’s the drink talking._ Another part of him is free and uninhibited by possible embarrassing situations.

 

“Sure,” he tells her. They step onto the dance floor and immediately get swept away from each other, the tide of people rising and falling with the music. Alec doesn’t know what to do, how to dance, or if he’s just supposed to stand there. His eyes flicker from side to side, and it’s on the right side that he sees a girl looking at him and concealing a laugh. He whirls around, expecting to see someone doing the adult version of bunny ears or something, but instead a guy is grinding up against him. Alec shoves him backwards, too shocked to be mad, but he knows anger will come later. He fights his way through the mass of people until a hand catches his arm and stops him. He turns around to see Camille. Her smile is inviting, and he knows he should go with her, so he does. He doesn’t enjoy three things, all of which are included in the present with Camille:

  1.    Dancing.
  2.    Dancing with women.
  3.    Women.



Therefore, he doesn’t really know why he’s doing this. Camille slinks around him, her dress riding up at the bottom and falling down at the top. He turns his eyes away, slightly embarrassed, but she goes right up to him _and tries to kiss him._ He leaps back and then fights his way through the crowd in earnest this time. He lands at the bathrooms, and he goes inside gratefully. Suddenly, something Isabelle said when they went clubbing (in Alec’s case, reluctantly) one time: “… no matter how tempting it sounds, do not let any tweaked guys give you a blowjob in the bathroom. It’ll end badly.” Alec had still been spluttering when she had flounced off to dance. He leans against the wall, letting the coolness from the tile soak into his sweaty body. His digs out his cell phone and texts Magnus. _I’m leaving,_ he types, and then sends _._ His phone buzzes almost immediately after he puts it back in his pocket. _What? Noooo! I’m at the bar, come there._ Alec doesn’t reply and inches towards the bar, hugging the wall instead of trying to go through the mass of clubbers. He sees Magnus sitting on a barstool, sipping a purple drink.

 

“Hey!” Magnus cries out, grabbing Alec’s hand and pulling him closer. “What’s up? Why are you saying you’re leaving?” Alec glances at Magnus’s pupils- they’re dilated.

 

“What are you on?” Alec avoids the “why are you leaving?” question. Magnus sighs deeply and rolls his eyes.

 

“Nothing, they have stuff in the air or something. And don’t leave, I’m having fun.” Alec sniffs the air experimentally; there are no drugs. Magnus was definitely on something.

 

“Just because _you’re_ having fun doesn’t mean _I’m_ having fun,” he tells Magnus sternly. “And this isn’t really my scene. I don’t… party, I binge watch TV shows on Netflix and eat copious amounts of junk food.” Magnus pulls on his arm.

 

“Stay? For me?” he asks sweetly, and Alec melts. He knows Magnus is drunk and high and probably something else too, but Magnus is still a weakness for Alec. Alec lets Magnus pull him and grins, though it’s forced.

 

“Okay.” Magnus squeals and jumps up and down, and then forcibly pulls Alec out to the dance floor. Ignoring his protests, Magnus starts shimmying around Alec, and Alec feels acutely uncomfortable. _Magnus has a boyfriend, Magnus has a boyfriend, Magnus has a boyfriend,_ he chants to himself. _I cannot dance and grind and kiss Magnus because he has a damn boyfriend. I hate Imasu._ As if Magnus can read Alec’s thoughts, he sidles a little closer to whisper into Alec’s ear.

 

“Forget about solid relationships, this is a club, we’re drunk, and you should just let it happen.” Alec’s eyes widen and he steps a full step back from Magnus. Magnus pouts. “C’mon, live a little.”

 

“I’m living, all right,” Alec says back, and begins shouldering through bodies once again. He clears a way out and leans against the brick wall of the club, trembling. He forces himself to not think about the way Magnus’s lips had felt against his ear, or how they might feel against his own lips. Alec has never been kissed by a boy before. Girl, yes, one time in eighth grade when Izzy had forced him to play Spin the Bottle with her sixth and seventh grade friends. He had been hoping it would land on a boy, but even if it had, they still wouldn’t have kissed. Instead, he had kissed a girl named Lily, a seventh grader. He hasn’t kissed anyone since. He slides down along the wall, feeling threads of his new sweater spring free.

 

He decides to run home, using directions from his cell phone and taking off that damn sweater. He wasn’t in good shoes either- or those _pants-_ but he wasn’t going to jack their car or something. Waiting for them was out of the question as well. “Hey, you alright?” He looks up, surprised. A teenage girl is crouching next to him, bright brown eyes staring into his. She’s not drunk, or high, or even sweaty. More so, she’s even in a modest outfit of jeans and a gray T-shirt that says, “para para PARADISE” on it in bold blue lettering. He stretches, standing up, and remembers the lyrics from the Coldplay song, finally. Suddenly he has a burst of recognition at the girl standing in front of him. He looks at the side of her face: same long scar. She winces, and his lips part.

 

“Ah, I’m so sorry. That was rude. Sophie, is it? What are you doing here?” Sophie sighs and pulls him away from the club, out of the shadows and into the moonlight.

 

“Yes, my name is Sophie. And I was on a date with my boyfriend, Gideon, but it just ended. We were about to leave-“ at this, she blushes, and Alec gets the drift. “but I saw you outside and figured you might need a way home.” Alec nods, falling into step beside her.

 

“Thanks, Sophie. I didn’t mean to interrupt your date, it just got a little… crazy in there.” Sophie nods sagely, pulling him towards the car. A tall man is leaning back in the front seat.

 

“I’m Gideon,” he says in a deep voice, running a hand through sandy blonde hair.

 

“Alec Lightwood,” Alec says, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you.” Gideon shakes his hand and then draws back, luminous green eyes wide.

 

“Your last name is Lightwood?” Alec nods. “Mine is as well. I guess we’re related?” It comes out as a question, and Alec shrugs.

 

“I suppose. Our family tree is really big,” he says, sliding in the back. Sophie slips in the shotgun seat, and Gideon backs out of the parking lot and cruises onto the roads.

 

“I heard it’s crazy in there,” Gideon says conversationally. Alec nods emphatically from the back seat.

 

“It reminded me of why I hate clubbing, and why I try and avoid it whenever possible. My sister drags me along occasionally, but I get out of it sooner or later. Magnus and Camille are so drunk in there, I think they’re going to forget everything that happened by tomorrow morning,” Alec says, smiling a little bit. Sophie twists around in her seat to look at him with those bright eyes.

 

“Do you know exactly how old Magnus is, Alec?” Alec is about to respond when he realizes that he actually doesn’t. Sophie frowns. “I know Camille is 22, but Magnus… I don’t know. She’s never mentioned his age.”

 

“He’s older than me,” Alec interjects. “Not by, like, a lot, but still. At least a year.” Sophie sighs.

 

“So, maybe old enough to drink? You’re 20, so he should be at _least_ 21…” Alec shrugs as they pull up to the sorority house. Sophie glances at him, and he takes the hint, scrambling out of the car with a quick “thank you” to Gideon and a blush blooming on his cheeks.

 

Sophie doesn’t come in for at least ten minutes- Alec does _not_ ask why- and instead gives her an awkward goodnight and goes up to his room. Except it’s not _his_ , per se- it’s Magnus’s, as well. He closes the door and strips, showers in the tiny shower quickly and then slips on underwear and sweatpants. Shirts aren’t necessary, and he assumes Magnus will be passed out at the club anyway. He slides under the covers and sighs deeply, burrowing in and getting comfortable. He misses Sophie cracking the door and checking on him, and then the beeping of Camille’s car when she and Magnus arrive home. He’s asleep, black hair arrayed over the pillow and pale skin displayed for everyone to see.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Next morning~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

         Alec breathes slowly and evenly, fast asleep, and then his peace is rudely interrupted by a car horn. His eyes fly open, and he brings his hand up to rub them, except his hand is trapped. He closes his eyes again and makes sense of his surroundings using one of the five senses: touch. His body is warm, too warm, and something is pressing up against him. “Oh- oh my God.” His voice comes out as a croak, and he winces. _I need water,_ he thinks.

 

         Magnus is pressed up against him completely, and Alec is slightly embarrassed to realize that they’re practically spooning. His body is curled into Magnus’s, his back pressed into Magnus’s chest and stomach. Magnus’s head rests on top of Alec’s, his chin gently touching the top of Alec’s scruffy hair. Alec can feel a blush spreading over his cheeks, down his throat, and then _oh my God I’m shirtless crap okay not good,_ and his thoughts are an incoherent mess. Magnus is sleeping on peacefully, unaware of Alec’s predicament. Alec’s eyes flick around desperately, and he finally decides on a solution: _he_ has to get up himself. Magnus obviously is not going to budge, and Alec has to get up for more reasons than the fact that his throat is burning from lack of H2O.

 

         Fast, like a Band-Aid, he slides away from Magnus and almost off the bed. He can feel his body temperature literally drop, Magnus’s warmth leaving him in an instant. He puts a tattered shirt on and pads quietly downstairs in search of water and possibly food. He almost stumbles into a dark haired girl rubbing her eyes and wandering around, but she steps into a darker room right before they collide. Alec tiptoes down the stairs, trying (and failing) to tame his hair before running into (not literally) any other, more awake sorority sisters. He arrives at the kitchen- where Camille had been when she and Magnus had screamed excitedly yesterday- and was quite surprised to see her there. Her back was to him, but her curly blonde hair was down, unstyled, and she was wearing an blue old fashioned robe that went down to her knees and thick white socks. He couldn’t tell what she was doing at the stove, or if she was awake or sleepwalking. “Camille?” he asks tentatively. She turns around slowly, and he’s barely surprised to see that she still looks striking without makeup. He gives her a half smile. “How’re you doing?”

 

         “I’m fine,” she says brightly. “And you?”

 

         “I’m good,” Alec says, shrugging. She moves to the right to get something and he sees that she’s cooking a _massive_ mound of eggs. “Why are you cooking so much?”

 

         “It’s for everyone,” she says, rolling her eyes. “The entire sorority. I cook on Saturday mornings, and other people cook on different days. There’s a schedule. I’m cooking eggs, bacon is on its way, orange juice is in the fridge, and if you’re lucky there might be toast. That way you all can make breakfast sandwiches,” she says, pleased. Alec watches her, smiling a little.

 

         “You like getting things done, don’t you,” he says, stating it as a fact and not as a question. “It’s a good thing! Actually-“

 

         “Sit down,” she interrupts, putting her oven-gloved hands on her hips and glaring at him. He complies immediately, slightly confused. And maybe scared. As the intensity of her glare increased, he thought, panicked, _definitely scared._ “So, Alec. Do you have a girlfriend?” Camille leans over and shuts the door, and then goes back to her eggs. Alec shakes his head mutely, and she clucks. “Mhm. Have you ever?” Alec is about to shake his head again when he feels enlightened.

 

         “Yes. Her name was Lily,” he says proudly. Camille eyes him, looking suspicious. “We dated for a month.” _Well, more like had more friendly relations than usual, and occasionally touched shoulders,_ he thinks to himself.

 

         “Right. When was this, and how did you meet?” Alec swallows, getting the feeling that this is an interrogation.

 

         “Um, eighth grade. And we met while playing Spin the Bottle,” he says guiltily. Camille comes over with a spatula top filled with eggs.

 

         “Taste.” He obligingly takes a bite. “Too much salt? Too little? Pepper or no?” She- shall we say- _peppered-_ him with questions. As he’s still eating, he shakes his head, nods, and then nods again. She lets him finish eating, satisfied, and then goes back to the eggs.

 

         “So you’ve never officially dated anyone, never kissed anyone except Lily, and you’re a virgin,” she tells him. He nods, biting his lip. She swats his shoulder. “Don’t do that, it makes you look too sexy for your own good. Anyway, two things. One- I know you’re gay. Two: I know you like Magnus.” Alec’s mouth opens and closes several times. She sighs, taking a bite of her eggs from the stove and then setting out some bacon on the fryer. “I know the gay thing because you haven’t even looked at a girl since you’ve been here, and they’re shirtless, like, all the time. Also, when I threw myself at you last night- and I never let myself get that drunk, just telling you- it was an experiment. You left, went to the bathroom, and then where? To Magnus, of course. And Magnus- Christ, Alec. It’s so obvious I can’t believe he hasn’t figured it out yet. He says he knows about relationships,” she grumbles, putting two pieces of bacon on the fryer, taking two out, and putting three pieces of toast in the toaster. Alec blinks and expels a deep breath. She looks at him expectantly. “You may speak,” she says regally.

 

         “Okay. Okay. Um. One, I am gay, my sister and her friend know but that’s it. Well, my parents know, but I don’t think they want to.” A muscle works in Alec’s jaw. “Yes, I’m gay. That’s a fact. Magnus… he doesn’t know. He has a boyfriend too, a handsome one named Imasu. He’s unavailable, all the time, I just- I can’t.” Alec closes his eyes briefly. “He always has a date, a party, a friend to catch up with or a guy to hook up with. I, on the other hand, binge watch TV shows on Netflix, run like my life depends on it, and visit with my siblings and their friends occasionally. I don’t have a life and he knows it,” Alec says, not letting his tears escape. Camille has since come over and started rubbing slow circles on Alec’s back. Those circles still when she hears the “and he knows it.”

 

         “What do you mean?” Alec swallows hard.

 

         “I can quote it from memory,” he says hoarsely, rubbing his jaw. _“’I’ve never met any of your siblings, or their friends. You’ve never had anyone over- and God knows I’m totally fine if you do, based on how often I do it. You’ve finished years worth of TV shows in a few months instead of doing anything remotely social. I mean, I realize you might not be the most social person, but I think the only person you’ve met outside of this dorm room you’ve met is Imasu, my boyfriend.’”_ Alec quotes it from memory, having run the words over in his mind countless times since the beginning of October. Camille pulls him in for a tight hug and then releases him quickly.

 

         “Oh, Alec. I’m sorry. Magnus has an extremely accurate mean streak sometimes, but he’s not cruel, exactly. And I don’t think he really meant it. He just doesn’t understand that you’re not like him, or that you’re straight and don’t have a girlfriend, tons of parties, stuff like him.” Alec looks at her.

 

         “You think so?”

 

         “I think so,” Camille says, her voice sure.

 

         “What do you all think?” A familiar voice comes through the wall, and Alec and Camille exchange a frightened look. Magnus strolls in, his hair disarrayed and his eyes sleepy. Alec wants to cry. He’s so beautiful, he doesn’t know it even though he does, and Alec can only stand on the sidelines.

 

**End of Chapter Four** _(at 3,020 words)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, read the notes at the beginning? Kudos and comments!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, sorry this is so delayed- and shorter than usual! So sorry, bleh. It's been a stressful few weeks, and this chap was hard to write for some reason. Unfortunately, you should be expecting the time between this update and the last one to be the standard from now one. Sorry!!

**Chapter Five**

 

         The next few days are a whirlwind of parties, shopping, sleeping, and teasing for Alec. He follows Camille and Magnus around like an attractive, mute, college kid. Magnus has integrated himself in the Rhode Island college scene so quickly Alec can barely remember him in NYC, though the two Magnus’s do basically the same thing. Party, drink, hook up. No, it’s not fair to think of Magnus like that. He’s smart, he has a boyfriend, he’s bright and keeps up with his old friend. It’s not fair to give him the gay stereotype.

        

         “Alec!” Camille hits him on the shoulder. “ _Mean Girls_ is almost over, and you’ve barely watched it. Come on. It’s the best chick flick ever made! And there’s even a hot guy in it- hey, look, there he is. My darling Aaron Samuels.” Alec lets his head fall back against the pillows of the couch. He, Magnus, and Camille are squeezed onto one of the sorority house couches, and the other girls are on couches, chairs, loveseats, and the floor. Popcorn and snacks are spread around.

 

         “Ever occur to you that it’s a _little_ weird to watch a movie in the middle of the afternoon on Sunday?” Magnus throws an arm around him, and Alec tenses.

 

         “It’s not much different from what happens on a usual Sunday in the dorm room, Alec. I watch a movie, you’re studious and do homework, occasionally Imasu comes over and cuddles-“

 

         “Ew, ew,” Alec says, pretending to be grossed out by Magnus’s love life, even though he’s explicitly interested. He feels a tiny pinch in the skin of his hip, and knows its Camille. “I don’t want your pity,” he breathes to her. He’s in between the two, Magnus’s arm around him and touching Camille’s shoulder and Camille curling into his side. Alec barely cares, because he’s gay and Camille knows it. Finally, Cady is on the grass with Damian and Janis and the ending credits roll. In sync, three sorority girls jump up and turn the TV off, collect fallen pillows, and generally start cleaning things up. Magnus looks around with despair.

 

         “Already? The party’s over? That means Alec and I have to leave,” he whines. Alec privately prays for a quick departure.

 

         “Oh, Magnus. I’ll come down to NYC for President’s Day or something and you can show me the best clubs, parties, and boys.” Camille puts a comforting hand on Magnus’s shoulder, and then they embrace. Alec hangs back awkwardly, deciding that the best thing to do is go back upstairs and pack whatever is left, since Magnus won’t be doing it. As soon as he crosses the threshold into the hallway, he can feel peacefulness descend over him. The girls are loud and bright and cheerful, but Alec is tired after the whole weekend,

 

         “Alec, where are you going?” Camille calls after him. Alec pretends not to hear and takes the stairs two at a time, swinging himself into the shared room. He throws his stuff into his suitcase haphazardly, stuffing it in and hoping it fits. He barely brought anything to begin with, but of course Camille and Magnus had made him get other clothes. Clothes that he most likely would not wear _ever again._ He tugs on a jacket, since it’s probably on the high end of 20 degrees, and heads downstairs with his suitcase bouncing against the steps. He drops it by the door and turns around.

 

         “HEY!” his face is crushed into Camille’s shirt, and he furiously tries to extricate himself. “Christ, Camille, get off me.” She lets him go, looking satisfied.

 

         “I knew that if I actually hugged you- with consent- you would give me a stiff, grandparent-I-see-once-a-year hug. Therefore, a surprise attack,” she says, looking like the cat that ate the canary and modest at the same time. Alec steps back warily, and then Magnus’s arm slides around his waist from behind. Camille eyes them, and the cat that ate the canary smile returns. Alec glares at her.

 

         “Alec, we should go,” Magnus says, sighing. “Imasu texted me and said he’d be waiting at our dorm.” Alec tries not to scowl and hopefully succeeds.

 

         “You should go, then, get back to your boyfriend,” Camille says lightly. “Remember to call me when you get back, though, okay?” Magnus nods and pulls her into a tight hug. Again. Alec leans against the door, trying not to be obvious about wanting to leave. Sophie comes up to him, her light brown hair in a pony tail and her scar running down the side of her face like a bolt of lightning against the sky.

 

         “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “You’ll get through it. Request someone else next year,” she tells him, smiling sadly. “I had to do the same thing with Gideon, but look at where we are now.” Alec hesitates to put an arm around her, and then does gently.

 

         “Thanks, Sophie. I’ll probably see you at some point sooner or later,” he calls as he and Magnus step through the threshold and into the cloudy December day. He waves to Camille and then finally, they’re in the car.

 

         It’s probably around four when they get on the highway, and Alec relaxes around the steering wheel. Magnus is texting furiously- probably with Imasu- and barely noticing the countryside whipping past them. “Alec?” Magnus asks him suddenly. Alec starts, and looks over at Magnus. His roommate has reclined the seat, but his face is turned and those unique eyes are staring at him. Like, right at him.

 

         “Uh, yes?” Alec replies, blinking.

 

         “Are you gay?” Magnus asks without preamble. Alec almost jerks the car off the road.

 

         “ _What?”_

 

         “I asked, are you gay? Because I just want to know. It won’t get weird or anything, don’t worry. I was just wondering,” Magnus says easily. Then he throws a worried look at Alec. “Oh- God, are you not? _Are_ you gay? Oh, sweetie. Does anyone know?” His voice is gentle.

 

         “Clary,” Alec says hoarsely. “The redhead. Which is- was- an accident. And Izzy, my sister, but she would never say anything.”

 

         “Not your parents. Not Jace?” Alec thinks about Jace knowing, and pushes the thought away, hard and fast.

 

         “No. They don’t know- my parents, and Jace- and I don’t want them knowing, especially Jace.” Alec breathes in and out. This is both easier and harder than he expected it to be, coming out to his roommate. Magnus, in turn, is taking it well. Too well, actually. It’s kind of weird, that it seems as if he already knew. _Wait, what?_ “Why are you taking this so well?” he asks Magnus, glancing at him but trying not to take his eyes off the road. “I mean, I know you’re not insulted by it, because you’re gay, and I know you’re not looking for a… boyfriend, because you have Imasu.” Magnus rolls his eyes and places a hand on top of Alec’s on top of the steering wheel. Alec tenses. He knows that Magnus is doing it out of friendship, and probably pity for Alec, but it still feels… _intimate._

 

         “No, I’m not looking for a boyfriend, I have Imasu. You rejected Camille at the club, and then when I came on to you later-“ Alec flinches. “-you ran. It wasn’t offensive, just intriguing. I wasn’t sure if you were straight right then, because you had looked indecisive when I told you that there were no limits, or whatever. And then…” Now Magnus looks shifty. “I overheard you and Camille. I don’t know what you told her beyond my being a partier or stereotypical gay man.” Alec sighs.

 

         “I’m sorry. That wasn’t meant offensively-“

 

         “No, of course it wasn’t.” Magnus cuts him of abruptly. “I doubt you’d be able to say something offensive to me if you tried. Don’t worry. Anyway, do you want me to set you up? I know a few gay guys that are single, and I’m sure they’d love-“

 

         “No.” This time it’s Alec’s turn to interrupt. “I don’t want a boyfriend, or a girl to pretend to be my girlfriend. I like being single. It means I can still admire Derek’s- uh, Tyler Hoechlin’s- abs without feeling guilty.” Magnus laughs out loud in delight. Alec shoots him a confused look. “What?”

 

         “You- you watch Teen Wolf?” Magnus asks, laughing harder once Alec nods, still confused. “Oh God. Alec, you’re such a loser. I love it. It’s adorable!” Alec starts to blush, red spreading along his cheeks and down his neck. Magnus snorts. “You’re cute when you blush, sweetheart,” he says, reclining in his seat. Alec decides to focus on the road instead of listen to him. Then Magnus turns to face him again. “Hey, Alexander?”

 

         “Yes?”

 

         “Do you mind if we-“ Alec feels a shiver run through him at the word “we”, “don’t tell Imasu about this? Because I think that he’d think that it’s a bit weird that we’re both gay and sharing a room. It’s like having co-ed dorms. Is that alright?” Magnus asks. It is most definitely _not_ alright, but Alec isn’t going to refuse Magnus or disagree. It would be weird for Imasu, but Alec doesn’t care. Imasu can deal.

 

         “Totally fine,” Alec says, keeping his voice light. “Tell him whatever you want.” Magnus expels a sigh of relief and lies back down again.

 

         “Okay, good. Thank you!” he says, turning back over, presumably to nap or something. Alec feels an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach and decides to text Isabelle. She’ll know what to do; she almost always does. _Hey, Izzy_ his text reads. He sets it on the table and tries to focus on the road. They’ve been on the road for about an hour, he thinks, and Magnus had only started talking a little bit after they pulled out of the driveway. His phone buzzed. _ayy alec hai. what’s up?_ Alec sighs at his sister’s bad grammar and keys in, _Nm. I told Magnus._ Her reply is almost instantaneous. _U did what???_ Before he can call her back, his phone screen changes and her picture comes up. It rings, and he sighs.

 

         “Hey, Izzy,” he says, answering it. He glances at Magnus- dead to the world. “What’s up?”

 

         “What’s _up_?” she asks disbelievingly. “You told Magnus. Your roommate- the gay, flamboyant one _with a boyfriend_ \- that you were gay. Alec! That’s huge! I’m so proud of you,” she says, sounding a little emotional. Alec winces.

 

         “He was totally okay with it, Iz. Of course, we knew he would be, but still. At least he’s not requesting that we change rooms or something.” Isabelle huffs into the phone, a staticky discharge coming through. Alec pulls the phone away from his ear and readjusts the sound.

 

 

         “Of course he wouldn’t do that! He’s probably going to ask you for fashion advice,” she says wistfully. “Not that you’re any good in that department. He should ask _me_. In fact, you should set me up! Call me over when he’s there, and I’ll have my impeccable fashion sense… oh, it’d be perfect. You have to do it, Alec,” she begs. Alec rolls his eyes.

 

         “Sure, sure. Whatever. How’s college going? How’s your roommate- Maia, right? Are you guys friends?” he asks, interested. He eases off the main freeway and onto a sub-freeway, going a bit faster.

 

         “Maia’s cool,” Isabelle says. “She has this boyfriend- his name is Jordan- and he’s over a lot, like a _lot_ \- and some other friends. They’re kind of weird. Anyway, yeah, college is great. I like my classes, they’re mostly about fashion and fashion history, which is nice.” Izzy blathers on about her classes and Alec tunes her out until she snaps, “Alec! Are you even listening?”

 

         “Of course!” he says guiltily. “Actually, I should go. Magnus is waking up.” He glances at Magnus- his roommate is like a hibernating bear.

 

         “Of course, of course. Love you, big bro,” Isabelle says sweetly.

 

         “Love you too, sis. See you soon,” he says, and disconnects the call. He sets his phone in the little cup holder and speeds up. He wants to get home.

 

~~~~~~~~~~Pulling into dorm driveway~~~~~~~~~~~

 

         “Hello? Where the fuck- oh, hey, Alec,” Magnus says blearily. Alec bites back a smile and glances at him.

 

         “Hi, Magnus. How’d you sleep?” he asks, navigating the sharp turns of the driveway expertly.

 

         “I slept okay. I had this weird dream,” Magnus yawns. Then he sits up, suddenly alert. “Wait, are we almost home? What time is it?”

 

         “Yeah, we’re almost at the dorms. It’s a little past seven. Why?” Magnus smoothes down his hair and scrabbles in his satchel for lip stuff.

 

         “I told Imasu to go to our dorm at seven. Can you keep going? Faster,” Magnus orders. Alec steps on the gas, going much faster all of a sudden and careening into their parking spot. Magnus jumps out of the car with his two bags and rushes towards the dorm, pulling his key card out of his satchel. Alec goes slowly, picking up his stuff and cleaning the car carefully before going in. The door is slightly ajar, and Alec hip checks it. Then his jaw drops.

 

         Magnus and Imasu are on Magnus’s bed- thank God- making out. Very passionately making out. Alec feels like a voyeur just watching it, but he resolutely goes inside and sets his stuff down on his side. When he turns around again, Magnus is looking right at him. He and Imasu break away immediately, Imasu looking unruffled by Alec’s spectatorship and Magnus looking freaked out. “Uh, Alec. Sorry. Imasu and I-“

 

         “…were making out. I can see that clearly. Um. It’s fine. I’ll just go.” Alec grabs his phone and laptop and heads for the door. He is almost out when a warm hand grasps his elbow and pulls him back.

 

         “No, you stay. Imasu and I will go to his room. Do your work or whatever,” Magnus tells him. Alec sits down uncertainly on his bed. Imasu gets out of Magnus’s bed heavily and slides on his flip flops.

 

         “ _Adios,_ Alec,” Imasu tells him. Alec nods without speaking and listens to their conversation as they go down the dorm hall to make out in peace. “… he gay?” Imasu’s deep voice asks.

 

         “..no, straight as a board, you know…” Magnus says quickly. Alec falls back on his bed.

 

         “Straight as a board,” Alec repeats. “That’s what I am.”

 

**End of Chapter Five** _(at 2,404 words)_


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the old length- little over 3K words. Hope you like it! Also, Sutton Myers is a character of my own creation, based on a fangirl friend.

**Chapter Six**

It’s Wednesday, and Alec is rushing to his Fiction-Writing class. It’s taught by Professor Ravenscar, a stern and unforbidding woman with black hair and sharp wrinkles. If Alec was an artist, he thinks he’d like to draw her: all angles, in black and white. As a writer, he must content himself with words. “Alec!” A voice reaches him, and he turns around. A medium height- therefore, shorter than Alec- longish haired boy is jogging up to him. “Hey. My name is Jordan Kyle. My girlfriend rooms with your sister,” Jordan says awkwardly. Alec nods and holds out a hand.

 

         “Nice to meet you. I’m Alec, though I guess you already knew that,” he says, grinning. Jordan shakes his hand.

 

“Listen, does Isabelle not like me or something?” Jordan asks, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, I keep getting mixed signals and stuff from her-”

 

         “Jordan.” Alec stops him. “Are you dating my sister?” Jordan looks up at him, wide eyed.

 

         “No! I’m dating Maia!”

 

         “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Izzy takes awhile to warm up to people, don’t worry about it. Especially cute boys,” he says without thinking. Then his mouth opens. “Oh my God.” Jordan shakes his head.        

 

         “It’s cool, dude. I’m straight, myself, but it’s always nice being appreciated,” Jordan says, grinning. Alec just about dies from embarrassment. “Anyway, can you put a good word in for me? Please? I’m afraid she won’t let me in the dorm if she doesn’t like me, and Maia wants me to wait in there because she said that it’s weird that I wait in the hallway. Thanks!” And with that, Jordan races off. Alec shakes his head in bewilderment and continues to his class.

 

         He arrives at the classroom five minutes early, and settles into a middle row seat at the lecture hall. Around him are other students, all as diverse as the New School claims to be- there’s the studious girl with all of her things set up around her, the man who looks way too old to be there, the half asleep ones, the ones who are writing furiously. This is the class that wanted a paper on unhappy memories, which of course brings back the feeling of Magnus against him as his roommate leaned over to try and read it. “Hello!” His professor strides into the room, papers in a satchel, hair up in a vaguely professional looking bun. Prof. Ravenscar is stern, but her hair wouldn’t reflect that if you looked at her. Alec busies himself with booting up his laptop and pulling out a pad of paper and a pen, just in case they do writing exercises.

 

         “Hey, black hair. Can I borrow a pen?” A girl leans down from a few rows up, blonde hair swinging down in front to hide her shirt. She has blue tortoiseshell glasses that magnify her eyes, which are a light blue flecked with gray. She snaps her fingers. “C’mon, class is about to start. Do you have one or not?” Alec snaps to attention and gives her a pen. She flashes him a smile and then leans back up.

 

         “Mr. Lightwood, am I not captivating enough to ensure your attention?” Alec turns around quickly and looks at his professor, eyes wide. She purses her lips. “If I am not exciting enough, maybe you are. Please come up, Mr. Lightwood.” Alec manages to move out of his seat and lurches down the row, stomach roiling. He pushes a lock of hair out of his eyes and looks at his professor warily. She hands a piece of paper to him, and at first he doesn’t recognize it. Then he sees **_A Million Little Paper Cuts_** and cringes.

 

“I have to read this? Out loud?” he says in a low voice. Professor Ravenscar nods, looking pleased.

 

“It’s one of the best that I read,” she tells him, smiling. Then she directs her attention to the class. “Mr. Lightwood will be reading aloud his short story, titled-“ she doesn’t even glance at the paper, Alec is semi-impressed, “A Million Little Paper Cuts. Go on, Alec.” Alec takes the paper and glances at it, feeling squeamish.

 

         “A Million Little Paper Cuts,” he reads. “I am eight years old. My brother is six.” He reads it with a block in his throat, as if the words have to fight their own battle to just get from his brain to mouth to speaking. Everyone is listening attentively, and he shuts his eyes tightly as he reads, “How is liking boys girly?” Now he is out, out as a rainbow in the sky on a cloudy day to these random people in his class whom he barely knows. He keeps reading, keeps pushing ahead as he reads, “’Goddammit, my son is not going through that-“ and then forges ahead like his life depends on it. He finishes, finally, and waits in silence, head down and cheeks red. Slowly, slowly, a clap reaches him. Suddenly the whole hall is clapping, and he blushes and ducks his head down until Professor Ravenscar comes up and congratulates him. He walks back to his seat after giving her the paper, sinking down in his chair. A note flutters from the sky and he plucks it out of the air. “Oh my god,” it reads. He bites his lip and puts it in his binder.

 

         “You’re an amazing writer,” the girl from a few rows up whispers down. He jerks his head up at her, not turning around. People are still clapping, it’s embarrassing.

 

         “Alec, Alec. What an example to the class! We look forward to reading whatever you have written next. Now, if Miss Myers could come up…” The blonde behind him jostles everyone in her attempts to get out, flyaway blonde hair flying everywhere. Alec doesn’t know whether she’s pretty or not- as a gay man, he doesn’t really check out girls- but if so, he’d have to say yes.

 

         “Hi,” she says into the hall, her voice magnified by the open hall. “I’m going to read my piece for you all. It’s called **_I Can’t_**.” She flaps her sheet of paper dramatically. “’I can’t do this anymore,’” she reads. “’I don’t want you.’” Her voice cracks. “’You loved me, you did, I know you did. Please-‘“ she cuts herself off. “He walks away like I didn’t mean anything, throwing words over his shoulder like pinches of salt on a burn. His footsteps echo in the alley as if they were made by a giant, the sounds ringing off the walls and reaching my ears. ‘Stop!’ My voice bursts out of my mouth and I clap a hand to it instinctively. I don’t like to shout, after being shouted at by him too many times. I am quiet, like a mouse, around him.” The words spill out her mouth in a torrent. “He is the cat and I am the mouse and it is all a game to him, except we are not equal players. ‘Please, come back,’ I say weakly. He turns around halfway, sneers at me. ‘No.’ He turns back around and strides out of the alleyway. I watch him go, unable to move, my feet rooted to the ground with the force of drying cement. Then I crumple, salty tears running down my face and curving around the crest of my nose and falling hot and fast onto my cheeks. My hair is a mess and I know this is barely the time to care, but I do.

 

‘Appearances matter,’ he told me once, tucking my hair behind the shell of my ear and staring at me. He takes my glasses off and looks at me with a critical eye, like I’m a paper he has to grade or something that must meet expectations. We walk down the street and I notice he distances himself from me, arm leaving my waist and stepping away. We’re still in step, still close enough that people could mistake us for a couple, but it was at that moment when things fell apart. I couldn’t see, he still had my glasses, and I run into the side of a blue mailbox. I can see the fuzzy outline of it, but he was wearing a blue sweater so I thought it might be him. He doesn’t catch me when I fall, so I stumble and my jeans catch on the concrete. I still have perfect hearing, so I hear the shocked gasps of the passerby, a few whispered giggles, and the annoyed sigh of my boyfriend. I pick myself up and try to find him, grasping around like I’m blind. I’m not blind, or maybe I am when it comes to love. Or maybe it’s just him. With another annoyed sigh, he places my glasses on my face roughly. I rearrange them, tucking pieces of my hair behind my ears, and taking his arm like girls in old movies. He pulls me along, trying to get me to go his speed rather than mine. His heartbeat thrums through his body like a metronome, and it’s so much slower and steadier than mine. Is it that I’m nervous? No, it’s only a date. Not even our first or second or third. But it was the moment when it fell apart and maybe my subconscious realized that on some level that I couldn’t.” She stops and breaths. Alec watches her in wonder, pulling a piece of notebook paper and a pen out to start a note to her.

 

“Incredible,” he mutters to the little old lady next to him. She nods and jerks her head to the girl. It occurs to Alec that he doesn’t know her name, and he resolves to ask her.

 

“I struggle out of my crouch position on the ground and run away, as far away as I can, and the bright lights of Georgetown hit my square in the face like a brick. I straighten myself up the best I can and stumble past H&M, feeling like the plastic models in the window are judging me and my appearance. Dean and Deluca is welcoming, so I buy myself a consolation piece of red velvet cake and eat it at one of their out/indoor tables, which are still cold but give you the illusion of safety. That’s what he did, giving me a place to be and stay and pour feelings out to, but he was cold and poisonous as a snake. He curled himself around me and squeezed me until there was nothing left. I find my car, see a ticket on the glass windshield. I snatch it and stuff it in the car, swinging myself in and putting the car in gear. Georgetown is as congested as a stuffy nose per usual, which gives me time to freshen up before I get home. My parents are the type that actually do notice things, which is apparently rare in teenage literature and teenage life in general. I know kids who can do drugs, drink, drive illegally, or go for a weekend in NYC (as I would love to do) without their parents batting an eye. Some of them would even hand over the keys to the car and a $20 dollar bill. My parents, in contrast, would notice if I changed the color of my nail polish. He would too. My boyfriend, he would notice. Like he said, appearance matter, and if my cerulean nail polish wasn’t the exact shade of my turquoise tank top, he would whip out the remover. Just like he did on our relationship, I suppose: I made him look bad, so there I went. Slightly bad smelling cleaning fluid wiping away my love life.” The girl drops her arms to her sides and stares out at the crowd, unashamed of her pain.

 

“Miss Myers, wonderful job,” Professor Ravenscar says. Alec scrawls _and you call me an amazing writer?_ on the sheet of paper and then _wait, what’s your name? I’m Alec._ He reaches up and puts the paper where she’s situated all of her things. Her Mac is decorated with Broadway stickers and one gay pride flag. He resolves to ask her about that, as well. She slides into her seat and he watches her smile as she reads his note. His heart skips a beat. No, it’s not for _that_ reason, he’s gay. But he doesn’t make friends well, and maybe he’s finally making one. A part of the college experience, right? Making new friends and all that.

 

“Your girlfriend sent you a note,” the old lady whispers, poking him with a bony finger. He gives her a quick smile and picks it up. _thanks, you’re not too bad yourself. my name is Sutton Myers and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance._ He rolls his eyes. This girl seems pretentious, but based on her writing, is an apparent genius with putting her thoughts and emotions into words. Hm. _Coffee after class?_ He writes on the same sheet. _I promise I’m not a stalker. nearest Starbucks is right off campus._ He hands it up to her and then faces the front of the room, scrupulously typing up the notes that Professor Ravenscar is putting up about writing dialogue and waits for this Sutton to reply.

 

Sure enough, the paper floats down a few moments later. _Done,_ it reads. _I’ll meet up w/u after class._ The class is only a half an hour more, an hour in total.

 

He packs up his stuff in a satchel and swings it onto his shoulder, moving down the rows and taking the steps two at a time. She’s waiting outside for him, her straight-ish blonde hair hanging down around her shoulders now. The glasses frame her face well, and her face lights up. She sticks a hand out, and he notices that her nails are painted light blue. “Sutton Myers, pleased to meet you,” she says. He shakes her hand.

 

“I’m Alec, Alec Lightwood. Nice to meet you, too.” He runs a hand through his hair, and they walk out of the hall and into the bright, cold sunshine. “So, um. You like Broadway?”

 

“Yes,” she says, giggling. “I love Broadway. I would be on it right now if I could. I audition for everything I’m eligible for,” she tells him. She’s wearing jeans and a long sweater with Uggs, and he wonders briefly if it’s fashionable. He wouldn’t know. It doesn’t look horrific, so at least it must not be embarrassing. “Wait,” she says suddenly as they cross the street. “How do you know that I like Broadway?” Alec grins.

 

“I was looking at your laptop and saw the copious amount of Broadway stickers,” he tells her. She relaxes.

 

“You stalker, you.” They enter the Starbucks and she orders for them easily, moving them over to a corner with plush chairs. He sits down in one cautiously, and she sits down, arranging herself to fit her surroundings. She looks up and then jumps away, coming back with two coffees. He tastes his and with a bit of shock recognizes his usual order, though with a dash of milk.

 

“How do you know my coffee order?” He asks her, furrowing his eyebrows. She shrugs.

 

“You look like the type for that,” she says, and then her eyes narrow behind the glasses. “Wait, no, I got something wrong. What is it?” Alec grins.

 

“I don’t take milk,” he says, sipping it again. “Anyway, Sutton Myers? Who are you?”

 

“Who are _you?_ ” she asks, deflecting the question back to him. He sips his coffee again, and she rolls her eyes. “Tell me about yourself, Alec.”

 

“Uh, okay. My full name is Alexander Gideon Lightwood. I have a sister, an adopted brother who plays for the giants, and my youngest brother passed away a while ago. I generally wear black. My roommate is Magnus Bane- oh, right, I live on campus. I don’t make friends easily-“

 

“Magnus Bane?!” she cuts him off. “I’ve heard of him. Some good things, a lot of bad things as well. Is he dating Imasu Morales or are they just friends with benefits? No one is ever really sure, since Magnus cheats on most of his boyfriends-“

 

“He what?” Alec almost chokes on his coffee. Sutton stares at him, and then hands him a napkin.

 

“… here. Listen, Magnus is a good guy, or at least that’s what I’ve heard. Imasu isn’t, though. The part of Peru he’s from is kind of shady.” Alec swallows more coffee and scrabbles for the napkin, fingers shaking ever so slightly. Sutton grabs it for him. “You two aren’t doing anything, right? Because if so…” she watches him carefully, and he closes his eyes. “Oh, Alec. Sweetheart, listen. I know he’s pretty and I know he’s elusive, but he’ll escape in the end. Okay?” Alec is immensely grateful that she doesn’t mention the gay thing, and smiles at her weakly.

 

“Thanks, Sutton.”

 

“No problem,” she says, sipping her coffee. “Now, Ryan Gosling or Jensen Ackles?” She asks, and Alec grins.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In the dorm~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

         “So, where were you today?” Magnus asks conversationally. They’re both on the bed, laptops open, doing their respective assignments and throwing a bag of Cheetos from one to the other.

 

         “Uh, class. I had Fiction Writing, you know that.” Magnus waves that off.

 

         “Yes, Alexander, I know that. But after class?” he asks. Alec’s eyebrows furrow, and then he remembers.

 

         “Right, right. I went out with a girl in class to coffee at Starbucks.” Magnus stares at him, and Alec begins to feel guilty. He keeps working on his paper, and then looks up again. “What?” he snaps.

 

         “I thought you were gay,” Magnus says plaintively. Alec rolls his eyes.

 

         “Yes, I’m gay. Does that mean I can’t go get coffee with a friend? Like you said,” and Alec narrows his eyes at Magnus, “I don’t have many friends. I like Sutton. She’s sweet and bubbly and someone that I wouldn’t normally talk with. So you know what?” Alec shuts his laptop and the thought occurs to him that he’s had a lot of shutting the laptop and leaving the room dramatically. But maybe he’s destined for the stage or something.

 

         “Alexander, don’t storm off in a huff. I know you can have friends, I was just curious.” Alec sighs and Magnus looks at him, those unique eyes huge. “Trust me, c’mon. Sit down and eat the Cheetos.” For some reason, that bites at Alec, and he picks up the laptop anyway.

 

         “Of course I can have friends, of course I can make friends. You doubt me, Magnus, and you assume things that I don’t like you assuming. It’s mean and advantage-taking and not something that I like, okay? So I’m going to have coffee with Sutton Myers and let you think about this.” Alec shoves his stuff into a bag and charges out the door, pulling out his phone. He and Sutton had exchanged numbers when they had finished coffee, and he searches for her name. _Sutton,_ he types, _can u meet me at that restaurant Taki’s? I need to talk._ She responds almost immediately. _of course. see u in 20._

**End of Chapter Six** _(at 3,198 words)_

 

 

 


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long with this- and it's even shorter than usual! But it's tech week for my musical at school, and that's hell, and finals are coming up. Great. Sorry, though! Hope you enjoy it, and leave comments and kudos!

**Chapter Seven**

         “Alec, sweetie. You have to see him at some point,” Sutton says carefully. Alec leans back in his chair, nursing his coffee.

 

         “Why?” he asks petulantly, aware that he sounds like a child. “I’ve managed to avoid him for a week.” It’s true; Alec and Magnus have been evading each other. Alec has only seen Magnus in the flesh twice since they fought. Magnus had been coming out of the room and Alec had been walking down the hall, and they hurried past each other as if they were strangers. Alec knew Magnus is staying at Imasu’s apartment, and Alec has been staying at Jace’s.

 

         “Alec.” Sutton sets down her coffee cup and reapplies her lip gloss. “Alec, Alec. You need to make amends with him. I know who Magnus is and what he’s like, and he’s not going to approach you first. He’ll lay off. You have to be the adult here. Just lie in wait for him at the dorm and talk to him, okay?” She starts packing up her purse, and Alec stares at her. “I have an audition for _Peter Pan_ to go to. Can’t decide if I want to be Wendy or Tinker Bell, though. Tink has a solo song, but Wendy has more lines.” Alec shrugs noncommittally, and she drops a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow. Bye, Alec,” she calls as she walks out the door.

 

Alec throws away his cup and stands up, deciding to heed Sutton’s advice and be the adult. His phone buzzes, but he ignores it and heads out of the Starbucks. His phone buzzes again, and he starts jogging down the street instead. He slips it into his backpack, ignoring the incessant buzzing. _Probably the group chat,_ he thinks absently, going a bit faster. He reaches the New School in no time and arrives at their dorm, breathing hard. It looks lived in - which is saying something, since they haven’t really been there for a week. Magnus’s stuff is still thrown everywhere and Alec’s side is still neat as a pin, his coffee machine quiet and books stacked on his desk. He puts down his backpack and pulls off his clothes, going through his closet. Jeans, khakis, pullovers, sweaters, t-shirts, underwear, socks, exercise clothes and a musty suit. He puts on a t-shirt and sweatpants and lies on his bed with his laptop. Magnus usually comes around about six, to get ready to go club. He hasn’t yet moved his copious amount of make up from the room yet, Alec notes, and stretches.

 

His eyes are still closed and his body is still completely dominating the entire, tiny dorm bed when the door clicks open. Magnus darts in and then looks like he wishes he hadn’t. Alec rolls his eyes. “Magnus, come in. It’s your room too.” Magnus comes in cautiously, slipping off his shoes and going straight to his closet.

 

“… hi, Alexander.” Alec feels a twinge of regret run through him. Alexander sounds so much better on Magnus’s tongue than his.

 

“Hey, Magnus. It’s been awhile,” Alec says easily.

 

“Mhm,” says Magnus, holding up two different shirts in the mirror and squinting. Alec points to the right one, and Magnus looks at him with an eyebrow raised. “So now you’re consciously making fashion choices?” Alec laughs a little, and Magnus gives a nervous chuckle before full-on laughing. “I’m just kidding, Alec. You’re perfectly capable of making your own fashion choices.” Alec smiles, his false confidence and bravado completely gone all of a sudden. Magnus, evidently, can tell. He says, “Look, Alec. Come sit with me.” He pats the floor between the beds and Alec slides off the bed and onto the floor. Suddenly he’s not in control anymore, Sutton’s advice is going out the window and he can’t remember what it might’ve been. Magnus taps his knee. “Still with me?”

 

“Uh, yeah,” Alec says, startled. “I’m here.”

 

“Good,” says Magnus. “Listen, sweetheart. I’m sorry about what I said before you went out with Sutton. You didn’t deserve that. And I’m only your roommate. I know plenty of people who only see their roommate when they go to sleep- and sometimes not even then! But I’m glad we’re friends. It’s nice having someone sensible like you to ground me. I don’t have Tessa anymore, and Camille is just as flighty as I am. Not a good influence, I can assure you. Anyway, now that we’ve had this little talk, do you think Imasu is cute? Because I found this guy in one of my classes, and he’s really, really hot. And I heard he gives the best head. But I don’t know. Imasu is really nice and sweet and we’re good together. Help me out.” Magnus looks at him pleadingly. Alec swallows.

 

“Ah, I’m not good with relationships. You know that. I don’t know what to do here. I personally would stay with Imasu-“

 

         “But that’s because you always take the safe option,” Magnus interrupts. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll keep dating Imasu but go get coffee with the guy, have a little fun.” Magnus winks. Then he gets serious. “This is just between you and me, right?” Alec nods vigorously.

 

“Of course.” Magnus nods, pleased.

        

         “I know I can trust you, Alexander.”

~~~~~~~~~~Three days later, in Starbucks~~~~~~~~~~

 

         “He’s cheating on Imasu!” Alec bursts out, flopping down with his frappuccino. He’s branching out. Sutton sits down carefully across from him, bracelets jangling and purse rustling.

 

         “Slow down, tiger. What’s happening and how do you know?” Alec sighs. “Hold on,” Sutton commands. “I need to get my coffee.” As she says that, the waiter yells “sweetened passion fruit tea and a chocolate cake pop?” Sutton jumps up and bounds over to the table. Once she comes back, there’s someone else in tow- another blonde chick. “This is Skylar,” Sutton introduces. Skylar is holding green tea and yogurt.

 

         “Hi,” Skylar says, tipping her chin at Alec. Alec nods back at her.

 

         “Not that this isn’t nice, but what is she doing here?” he asks Sutton. Sutton shrugs, sipping her passion fruit tea.

 

         “She’s my friend,” Sutton says. “Anyway, Imasu. Magnus. What’s the gossip?” Alec gulps his coffee and it scalds the back of his throat. He winces.

 

         “Okay, so Magnus is cheating on Imasu. He literally told me. Magnus said that the guy gives the best head-“

 

         “Woolsey,” Skylar jumps in knowingly. Sutton and Alec both stare at her, and Skylar blushes. “Not that I know. Duh. I have a gay brother.” Sutton grins.

 

         “Tate? I love him. Anyway. And Magnus wants to get with this Woolsey and not you or Imasu, but he wants to keep dating Imasu while cheating on him with Woolsey. What a dick move. Sorry, I know he’s your roomie, but still. Inexcusable.”

 

         “I know you hate cheating, Sutton, especially after that incident in, like, high school. But lay off Magnus. Cheating is bad, but Imasu must expect it by now. I mean, it’s happened like three separate times. Magnus isn’t exactly a good person. Hate to break it to you, Alec, since you seem like a nice guy, but yeah.” Skylar finishes her speech. Alec stares at her for a second, and then turns to Sutton.

 

         “I don’t like her,” he says plainly. Skylar snorts. Alec glares at her. “Seriously. Magnus is my friend. I don’t care about his relationships in _that_ way, because his relationship with me is different.” Alec misses the pointed look between Sutton and Skylar. “He can have ten different boyfriends a far as I’m concerned. Not my problem. My problem is if he’s not cleaning his side of the room - which of course he doesn’t, but I don’t actually care. My problem is if his boyfriends leave clothes on my side of the room, or if they don’t clean up their mess after sex, or if he tries to dress me up in his clothes. Ugh. Anyway, he’s a pretty good friend to me, and I’d like to keep it that way. Got it?”

 

         “Got it,” Sutton and Skylar say in unison. Alec glares at each of them in turn.

 

         “Don’t be bitches, you guys. Come on. Magnus is my friend and that’s that,” he says authoritatively, gulping more coffee. They share another look, which he catches. “Go back to watching _Once Upon A Time_ , Sutton,” he sighs. “And go back to watching whatever show you watch, Skylar.” Skylar shrugs.

 

         “I’m binge watching _Scandal_ right now,” she tells him. “It’s quite good. Anyway, I just gave you advice. You don’t have to act on it- you should, but you don’t have to. Just saying. This was a great conversation, and Alec, I’ll see you around. Text you, Sutton!” And with that, Skylar walks away, her dirty blonde ponytail bobbing as she weaves in between people to get to the door. Alec sighs.

 

         “I don’t like her,” he whines. Sutton rolls her eyes at him.

 

         “Don’t be such a baby. She’s a perfectly nice girl. Actually, I must dash- I have a date.” She smiles nervously, and Alec’s heart goes out to her.

 

         “Have fun, Sutton. You deserve it,” he tells her, patting her shoulder awkwardly. She throws him a look of disdain and hugs him lightly.

 

         “Thanks, you’re such a sweetie. I’ll see you soon, okay?” She says. Alec nods and she departs. Suddenly he’s all alone with his bitter coffee, and he decides to go back to the dorm.

 

         “Alec?” A deep voice reaches his ear as he pushes out the door into the rainy December day. It’s December 21st, and people are starting to leave for Christmas time. Alec will leave his dorm sooner or later, to crash at his house with his parents, Jace, Izzy, Clary, and Simon. Jocelyn, Clary’s mother, was on tour with her art and Clary was spending Christmas with the Lightwoods. Simon wasn’t on speaking terms with his parents, nor did he celebrate Christmas. He celebrated Hanukkah, but gave everyone their presents at Christmastime anyway. “Alec?” The deep voice jerks him out of his reverie and he looks up.

 

         “Imasu! Uh, hi?” Alec steps back into the warmth of the coffee shop and Imasu follows, shaking water droplets out of his dark hair.

 

         “ _Hola._ Listen, I was wondering. Have you heard from Magnus in the last hour or so?” Alec has a momentary flash of panic.

 

         “No, why?” he asks quickly. Imasu shakes his head and a look that seems like amusement flashes over his face.

 

         “I just haven’t heard from him in the last… oh, five hours or so. He was supposed to text me, because we were supposed to meet up for a coffee date here and then, ah, go back to my apartment.” Imasu blushes. “Anyway, I guess he just forgot. I didn’t stop by your dorm, so if you go back, can you let me know if he’s there?” Alec nods, and then frowns.

 

         “I need your number,” he says. Imasu snorts and Alec hands him his phone, letting Imasu program his number in. “There you go. Let me know- _gracias.”_ Alec blinks and then Imasu is gone, deep in the depths of Starbucks. He rolls his eyes and catches the subway back to campus.

 

Everything is wet, dark, and mildly disgusting right now, so it’s no surprise when he gets to his dorm that he can see that his room’s lights are off. However, it’s locked. He and Magnus almost never lock their door, and when he opens it he immediately knows why it was locked.

 

Magnus and someone else- _probably the guy he was talking about earlier,_ Alec thinks with a rush of clarity- are on Magnus’s bed. Alec needs to _stop watching because that’s weird_ but he can’t seem to cover his eyes. So, he hopes his expression is shocked enough that when Magnus turns around to see what the disturbance is, it explains why he hasn’t looked away yet.

 

“Holy shit. Okay. I’m gonna go,” Alec says quickly, and shuts the door behind him. He hears Magnus’s yelp and the other guy’s voice- “who the fuck was that?”- but otherwise, nothing. He slides down against the wall and pulls out his phone. _Just saw M and someone else doing it in my room_ , he sends, and one comes back quickly. _jesus christ. srsly???_ He grins, reading it, and types out, _Yup. Not exactly a religion experience._ Isabelle takes awhile to type the next thing, and then it comes up. _do I need to come over there and talk to him about privacy issues? bc I can and will._ Alec chuckles and tells her, _Nah. I’ll talk to him. See ya,_ and then slips the phone back in his pocket. He pulls out _1984-_ he’s reading it for a historical fiction class- and starts reading just as a foot kicks his backpack and sends all of his stuff flying. “HEY!”

 

“Oops, sorry,” the guy says. He’s a blonde with pretty gray eyes and thin, plucked eyebrows. “Sorry. I’m Charles. Sorry about that, Mags said there wouldn’t be anybody coming for at least six hours… guess he forgot about you.”

 

“Six hours?” Alec squeaks. And _Mags? Wait, they’d been having sex for six hours?!_ Charles reads the expression on his face and laughs.

 

“We went out for a bit, and came back here. We’ve been having sex since then,” Charles says casually. Alec swallows.

 

“Uh, okay. Are you leaving?” Charles nods and pulls sunglasses out of his bag.

 

“Yup, I have a class soon. See you around,” he says, slipping them on and winking at Alec. Alec blushes.

 

“You can come in,” Magnus’s voice calls. Alec lets himself in carefully, expecting the same dim room and unclothed Magnus. He gets half. Magnus is shirtless with a bright purple pair of drawstring sweatpants (designer, probably) and his usual fuzzy socks. The room is bright, curtains thrown wide and it’s mostly cleaned up- except, of course, Magnus’s side is still strewn with old clothes.

 

Alec sets himself carefully down on his bed and unpacks his bag, avoiding Magnus’s eyes. Magnus comes and sits next to him. “Hey, you’re acting like an old man again. What’s the matter?” Alec doesn’t trust himself to not jump Magnus if he looks into his eyes, so instead he focuses on the copy of _1984._ “Look at me, Alexander.” Magnus tilts his chin up and Alec is forced to look into Magnus’s odd eyes, that mix of green and gold that’s so unique to him. “What’s wrong?” The gesture is intimate, a little too intimate for Alec, but he doesn’t shy away.

 

“You’re cheating on Imasu, Magnus,” he says softly. “I don’t know if I can be friends with someone that knowingly cheats on their boyfriend and enjoys it.” Magnus sighs, the sound deep in his chest.

 

“I’m sorry for your moral complications, Alexander. But you have to understand, this is my life and not yours. If I ever get myself involved with your love life-“ Alec’s heart seizes up- “then please, feel free to intervene. But now, this is me. Not you.” Magnus releases his chin and gaze and jumps back onto his own bed. It creaks and wheezes, and both boys look at it in alarm. “What the hell- OOF!” Magnus makes an ungraceful noise and falls down a foot with the bed. Alec gets down and looks underneath the bed.

 

“Shit, Magnus. One of the wooden beams broke.” Magnus gasps theatrically.

 

“Shit is right. Shit shit shit, this isn’t good.” Magnus gets down and looks with him. The warm feeling of Magnus’s body next to him makes Alec shiver. “Oh, well,” Magnus says. “Guess I’m sleeping with you tonight!” _Oh my God._

 

“Okay. Okay. Uh, sure. I’m not ready for bed yet,” Alec offers weakly. Magnus grins widely.

 

“Me neither. Wanna order in?” Alec nods eagerly and Magnus retrieves the bag of order in menus they’ve collected over the past few months. “Chinese… Italian… Thai… burgers… what do you want?” he asks, looking up at Alec. Alec shrugs noncommittally and Magnus bites his lip. “Let’s go with Italian. Tortellini okay?” Alec nods again and Magnus pulls out his glittery phone. “Hi… yes, I’d like to order to deliver… two small bowls of tortellini, with sauce, and garlic bread… uh, two Cokes?” He glances at Alec for confirmation and gets another nod. “Ooh, yes, and cannolis. Five. Awesome, we’ll pay when you get here… oh, the address!” Magnus gives the address of their dorm and hangs up. Then he phones the TA downstairs. “Hey, Verlac! There’s going to be a guy with Italian food coming in like 20 minutes, so just call us when he gets here? Okay? Thanks.” He hangs up and then goes over to Alec’s bed, moving to where the wall is and lying down. Alec stares at him for a second, and then sits crosslegged to do his writing on _1984._

The bed is so small that even with Magnus laid out as skinny as he is, and Alec being as careful as he can not to touch Magnus, Magnus’s thigh and Alec’s knee touch. “You good, Magnus?” Magnus grins.

 

“Peachy.”

 

**End of Chapter Seven** _(at 2,087 words)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be an interesting Christmas!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! I just got out of school, so updates may or may not be coming more frequently. I'll let you all know.

**Chapter Eight**

~~~~~~~~~~Sunday, December 22, noon~~~~~~~~~~~

<http://www.glamour.com/fashion/2013/02/47-winter-outfit-ideas-from-new-york-fashion-week-fall-2013#slide=22> Isabelle’s outfit

<http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/style/articles/2013-01/24/mens-fashion-trends-autumn-winter-2013-paris-london-milan/viewgallery/20> Magnus’s outfit

Jeans and gray spotted shirt she wore in the Institute- Clary’s outfit

         “Christ, Iz, I’ll be there in a few hours. I’m packing up- no, I’m not bringing anyone with me. I’ll be alone and friendless, just like every other Christmas,” Alec groans to his sister.

 

         “Have faith, Alec. Someone irresistible will come along and I’ll cheer you on.” Isabelle and Alec are talking on the phone together while Alec tries futilely to stuff clothes into a duffle bag. His roommate is lying on the floor, playing around on his phone.

 

         “Magnus? Have you seen my gray shirt?” he hisses, trying not to let Isabelle hear.

 

         “Which one?” Magnus asks in a bored tone. Alec wrinkles his nose. Sometimes Magnus gets like this, snooty and bored and annoying. Alec doesn’t like it, but he deals.

 

“It has the pocket on the left side and blue thread for the seams?” Alec phrases it as a question. The only reason he knows words like “seam” is because of Magnus and his constant studying aloud. Apparently, he absorbs information better if he hears it.

 

“What?” Isabelle asks. He hears her sigh into the phone. “Anyway, I’ll see you at three. Get situated and then the five of us are going out for dinner before Mom and Dad get home. Have you even bought presents yet?” Alec rolls his eyes.

 

“Guess, Isabelle.” Isabelle sighs into the phone again.

 

“Right. You’ll have to do that during the rush days. Oh, shit, Maia! Don’t pack stilettos next to wool-“ the call disconnects. Alec slips it in his pocket and taps Magnus’s shoulder.

 

“Find that gray shirt?” Magnus shakes his head. Alec frowns. Magnus is rarely like _this,_ not even talking. _Something is wrong,_ Alec realizes, and looks around the room. Suddenly, he sees it. “Magnus, where are you going for Christmas?” Magnus looks up at him through mascaraed lashes.

 

“Staying here,” he mutters, jabbing at his phone and then tossing it on the floor. Alec struggles not to let his jaw drop.

 

“You’re not going home with anyone? Or your parents?” he asks, and immediately regrets it. They’ve never talked about Magnus’s parents, not once in the three + months they’ve been living together. Granted, Magnus only knows that Alec’s parents work a lot, but there’s a lot more than that. Alec hasn’t asked- he’s wondered, but asking is personal and being personal with Magnus is difficult.

 

“No,” Magnus says curtly, and looks down at his phone again. His fingers fly over the keys and Alec seizes the moment.

 

“Where is Imasu going?” Magnus sighs, but doesn’t look up at Alec.

 

“Home, Peru. He might not come back, either. His parents don’t like him being away for so long.” Alec tries to look disappointed and probably fails. Good thing Magnus is still looking at his damn phone. Alec takes a split second to think about it and then just goes with it. His siblings will be happy with him, anyway. But Magnus is _just_ a friend.

        

“Would you like to come home with me?” Alec asks in a small voice, and then winces. That sounded a lot like a bad pickup line at a strip club. Magnus stares at him for a second, completely stunned, and then his expression fixes itself with surprised happiness.

 

“Are- are you sure?” asks Magnus, sounding unsure himself. Alec shrugs, more confident now that Magnus has tentatively said yes.

 

“Sure. I mean, my parents will probably be here for ten minutes out of a week anyway. We have tons of spare rooms and stuff, and my sister would love someone to talk fashion with-“

 

“I’m in,” Magnus decides, jumping up and plugging in his phone. “When do we leave?” Alec grins happily.

 

“An hour or so. It might take a bit in traffic, but Hodge can fight through anything,” he says offhandedly, finding his gray shirt in the depths of his closet.

 

“Who’s Hodge?” Magnus asks. Alec can hear him starting to pack haphazardly and he withdraws from the closet.

 

“Our… driver.” Alec can’t look at Magnus when he says that. He knows that Magnus is at least somewhat wealthy, going to the New School and spending all the money on clothes that he does, but not driver wealthy.

 

“Cool,” Magnus says, his tone light. The only words they exchange over the next hour have to do with clothes and questions about the house and people coming. Most of them Alec is able to evade, but he lets where their house is slip. He can hear Magnus’s intake of breath, but he says nothing.

 

“ALEC! Your car is here!” Verlac yells up from the downstairs office. Alec and Magnus grab their suitcases and cell phones and rush down the stairs. A look of surprise crosses over Verlac’s face. “Magnus going with you?” he asks. Alec frowns.

 

“Yup,” he says shortly. Verlac gets the message and wishes them a Merry Christmas. Hodge gets out and shakes hands with Alec.

 

“Mr. Lightwood, pleasure to see you again. And who is this?” he asks, indicating Magnus. Magnsu steps forward quickly.

 

“Magnus Bane,” he says, shaking Hodge’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you.” Hodge smiles.

 

“Pleasure is all mine. Now, why don’t you boys get in the back, and I’ll load up your stuff.” He opens the door for them and they slide in. Magnus looks around, and Alec can tell he is struggling to mask his surprise.

 

They both look out the window for most of the ride, until Alec asks Hodge, “Who’s at the house already?” Hodge taps his chin as they idle at a spotlight.

 

“Miss Lightwood arrived around noonish, and Miss Fray arrived around two. You and Mr. Bane will be the third. Mr. Lewis said he would come around five.” Alec glances at his watch- 2:30.

 

“And Jace?” he asks, trying to keep his tone uninterested.

 

“Mr. Herondale will be here around 4:30, sir,” Hodge says. Alec exhales. “We’ll be there in about 20 minutes, sirs. Please relax and enjoy the ride.” Alec cracks open a seltzer water and nervously drinks the whole thing over the course of the next 20 minutes. He regrets it soon enough- _bathroom, bathroom,_ he chants inwardly.

 

Soon, Alec recognizes his neighborhood creeping up around him and then the driveway that leads to their house. It goes underground and it gets gradually darker until Alec can barely make out Magnus’s profile. Hodge parks in front of the doorway. “Would you two prefer to take your bags or have me drop them off?” he asks politely.

 

“We’ll take them,” Magnus says authoritatively, and Alec glances at him in surprise. They retrieve their bags from the trunk and go inside the little elevator that takes them up to the first floor. Alec’s phone buzzes. _where r u???_ He sighs and types, _on my way up._ Izzy responds immediately. _I’ll greet u at the elevator!_ Alec’s eyes widen. _Oh, shit_ , he thinks, though of course he can’t keep it a secret forever. “It” being Magnus.

 

The elevator dings and both Magnus and Alec grip their bags. Alec feels slightly nauseous as the door opens and Isabelle flies at him in a whirlwind of black hair and pale skin. “ALEC!” To be fair, it’s been a month since they’ve seen each other. She hugs him tightly and Alec drops his bags and weakly hugs her back.

 

“Hi, Izzy,” he says weakly. All of a sudden, she releases him and whips around to look at Magnus.

 

“Who the hell is this? Wait, wait, wait. Oh my God- it’s your roommate! The gay, fashionable Asian one!” Magnus shoots a look to Alec and Alec ducks his chin. Isabelle bops his head. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me he was coming along,” she says accusingly. “Not that I’m mad, of course, always nice to have new company- but you could have warned me!” Magnus chuckles and holds out a hand.

 

“It was kind of a last minute thing. I’m Magnus Bane, and you must be Alec’s sister-“

 

“My name is Isabelle,” she says, chin held high, and Alec chokes back a laugh. Magnus looks slightly affronted.

 

“That’s a great outfit you have on,” he says, gesturing to her clothes. Alec grins. _The way to Isabelle’s heart is through her clothes_ , he thinks. He examines her outfit himself, but then Magnus does it aloud. “Black wrap dress, denim jacket, tan coat, leather gloves, sheer silver leggings, infinity scarf- sweetheart, I think you and I are going to be the best of friends.” Alec groans internally. It’s going to be a long few weeks.

 

“Who’s this?” Clary asks, her red head popping around the corner. Her mouth drops open. “Is that Magnus?”

 

“Alexander, have you been gossiping about me?” Magnus jokes. Alec blushes and Isabelle grins.

 

“Alec told me, I told Clary and Simon. I expect Jace knows as well. Anyway, Clary, this is Magnus. Magnus, this is Clary Fray. Let’s go to the living room, shall we?” Isabelle leads them to the living room, peeling off her tan coat, scarf, and boots. Clary is in jeans and a spotted gray sweater with thick, rainbow socks on. Everyone sits on the couch. Isabelle sits delicately, and then slumps back. Clary curls up, hugging a pillow. Alec dumps his stuff on the ground and flops down, sprawling out. “Get your smelly feet off my couch,” Isabelle teases, pushing his feet off. Magnus watches the exchange and then sits down carefully.

 

“Where’s Jace?” Clary demands. Alec rolls his eyes.

 

“Four thirty, Hodge said. Izzy, is there any food here?” Isabelle gets up and goes to the kitchen, causing Clary and Alec to look at each other and leap up in horror. They assist Isabelle- “I _can totally_ cook. You guys have no trust and no faith in trying new things!”- in getting some snacks.

 

“What’re you getting?” Magnus calls, Alec leans over so that he can see and Magnus is on his phone. _Probably texting Imasu,_ Alec thinks despondently. Clary carries in a tray of chips, guacamole, salsa, and chocolate chip cookies. Mini Diet Cokes accompany them, carried by Isabelle. Alec hovers awkwardly, and then goes to get napkins. He hurriedly returns to his seat, pulling out his phone, but Isabelle slaps it away.

 

“Uh-uh. I haven’t seen you in a month, Clary hasn’t seen you in three, and you’re on your phone? No way,” Isabelle says, putting it on the table and swiping a chip. “Any new friends?” she asks. Alec brightens.

 

“Yes, actually. Oh, put away your look of surprise,” he tells her and Clary irritably. “Two girls. Sutton Meyers and Skylar- uh, I actually don’t know what her last name is.”

 

“Torte,” Magnus supplies. “Skylar Torte. I know her brother, we met at a pride parade in the city once.” Isabelle flicks a look at him, still unimpressed.

 

“Sure, Skylar Torte. Anyway, Sutton and I met in class, and she introduced me to Skylar. We text a lot and meet for coffee sometimes,” he says, grinning. He sees Isabelle’s pointed look and groans. “No boyfriend, no crush-“ his eyes flicker to Magnus, and then he looks back at Izzy. He knows she saw the look because of the slight widening of her eyes and the tiny, devious gleam that just appeared in them. “No nothing.” Isabelle shrugs.

 

“You don’t need romance to be happy,” Clary interjects. “I was just fine before Jace came along, helping me find my mom.”

 

“Hm?” Magnus asks, sitting up. “Find your mom?”

 

“Yeah,” Clary says dismissively. “Mom was on tour, but didn’t want me to know because her career hadn’t quite taken off like it has now yet. She was late a few days, and I freaked, and Jace helped me track her down.” She smiles complacently. “It’s all good now, though.”

 

“Who’s your mother?” Magnus asks directly to Clary. Alec and Izzy trade guarded looks- the reaction to Clary’s mother was probably going to be the same as the reaction to their parents. So, this is basically a test for Magnus.

 

“Uh,” Clary said, hugging the pillow. “My mom’s name is Jocelyn Fray?” She phrases it as a question, and avoids looking at Magnus. Alec and Isabelle watch him carefully.

 

“Alexander! Does that mean the sketch hanging in our room is an-“ Magnus’s voice drops to a whisper- “ _original Jocelyn sketch?”_ Alec sighs and looks at Clary. When they’d all left that September for college, she’d given them all a sketch of the animals she thought they’d be. Isabelle had a panther, Jace was a lion, Simon was a hawk, and Alec was a cat. It was masterfully drawn, all angles and shadows. Alec isn’t much of an artist, but he knows one when he saw it.

 

“No,” Clary says curtly. “It’s mine.” Magnus turns and gapes at her. Clary’s fingers are flying over her phone and her green eyes are narrowed. Even Magnus can tell when he’s made a social blunder and reaches over to touch her shoulder.

 

“Not what I meant, sweetie. Your work is as good as your mother’s, if not better,” he assures her. “It’s just-“ he pauses delicately. “You’re not quite as famous- though _of course_ you could be if you wanted- as your mother, so I didn’t recognize your work.” Clary stops typing and looks up at Magnus. Now her eyes are wide, vulnerable, the pale lashes that are framing them blinking.

 

“You think I could be famous?” she asks quietly. Magnus nods. Alec knows what’s happening to Clary right now- Magnus has the rare ability to make you feel like you’re the only person in the room. His eyes don’t wander when he talks to you, and he says everything very genuinely. It’s a very good trait to have.

 

Isabelle has been watching the whole exchange as well, but she doesn’t have the same span of patience that Alec’s been blessed with. “Clary, we all know you’re going to be famous. Now come along. It’s four fifteen, which means Jace will be here soon.” Clary springs up and grins at Magnus for a quick second, and then bounds along with Isabelle down the hall. Now Alec and Magnus are alone- uncharted territory despite the fact that they share a room together.

 

“So, this is your house?” Magnus phrases it as a question.

 

“Technically, it’s my parents’ house… but yes, it’s mine,” Alec trails off, embarrassed at Magnus’s knowing look. He should feel comfortable in his own home, but with Magnus there, it feels like it’s been invaded. “Anyway,” Alec says, in an effort to change the subject. “Do you have any siblings?” Alec immediately sees that it’s the wrong question. Magnus’s whole face tightens, his narrow eyes becoming even narrower, his mouth outlined in a terrible mixture of sadness, anger, and loss.

 

“Yes,” Magnus answers shortly. “I don’t know any of them.” Alec’s eyes widen, and he shrinks into himself.

 

“I’m sorry-“ he begins to say.

 

“Don’t pity me,” Magnus snaps. “I didn’t want to know any of them anyway. My dad was a dick that went through women like it was a race. Unfortunately, he chose to stay with my mother. For some reason, he didn’t think I would come out Asian, despite the fact that my mother was. As soon as I was six, I was out. An orphanage took me in-“ he cut himself off. “That’s enough. I can’t share all my secrets at once,” he says, his wall back up and his teasing mood back. Alec swallows.

 

“How is it that you don’t know if he has siblings or not and you’ve been living together for almost three months?!” Isabelle says, coming back into the room. Behind her are Clary and Jace, holding onto each other as if once they let go, the world will split apart.

 

“Oh,” Jace says, looking mildly surprised. “Magnus, right? Bane?” Magnus inclines his head in acknowledgement.

 

“Nice to meet you, Jace Herondale. I’ve heard a bit about you,” Magnus says. Jace grins.

 

“I’m not doing drugs and I’m not dating that girl Kaelie. She works at Taki’s, for Heaven’s sake. Of course, the fact that I’m going to see her in the same restaurant seems a bit predestined, as she works there,” Jace says dryly. “Anyway, what are you doing in our,” he gestures around, “humble abode?” Clary snorts.

 

“Bit larger and grander than the average humble abode,” she says, looking around. “He’s staying with us for break, Jace. Isn’t that great?” Everyone but Magnus knows the tone and the fact that she’s probably digging her nails into his back. Jace covers up his wince with a cough, looking around.

 

“Yeah, great. Can we get some real food? These Safeway cookies are great, but they’re not gonna cover my appetite,” he says, putting two in his mouth at once. Clary shakes her head fondly. Isabelle and Alec roll their eyes.

 

“We can eat now,” Clary says, shrugging. “Where? Or order in?” Jace nods at the second one.

 

“We’ll get burgers,” Isabelle says definitively. “Well, a salad for me. Burgers for everyone else-“

 

“Not me,” Magnus interrupts. “Regular salad too, please.” Isabelle looks startled at the fact that someone isn’t conforming to her.

 

“Uh, okay.” Izzy pulls out her cell phone and gets everyone’s specific orders, and then goes out of the room, calling the burger place. The other four sit in awkward silence, until Jace claps his hands.

 

“Alright, these few minutes have been sufficiently awkward enough for me. What shall we do this fine evening? And do any of you have anything planned for the rest of break?” Alec shakes his head first. Magnus shrugs.

 

“I’m invited to some parties, but if this turns out to be more interesting, then I’ll stay here.” Clary snorts.

 

“Nice, Magnus. Simon has a band a performance sometime next week, but that’s it. Speaking of Si, where is he?” Isabelle ducks back into the room.

 

“On his way, he just texted.” Clary looks disgruntled at not being the one he notified first. “What are we talking about in here?”

 

“Nothing much,” says Jace. “We-“ the doorbell rings, and Isabelle, Jace, and Alec jump up in alarm. Alec looks at Jace, who immediately sprints off, and Isabelle touches his arm.

 

“What should we do?” Alec looks around, panicked. “We can’t, like, hide him, right?”

 

“Me?” Magnus interjects. “What the fuck is going on? Who’s at the door? Why are you acting like it’s the mafia?” Isabelle looks right through him to Clary, who’s gone white as a sheet.

 

         “Clary, go to Jace. Alec, go to your room. Magnus, come with me,” Isabelle says calmly. Alec touches Magnus on the shoulder and then goes up the stairs.

 

         “Shit,” he whispers to himself. His phone buzzes and he pulls it out. _dude, where the fuck r u- maryse is asking- u gotta come down. is izzy taking care of magnus?_ Alec types fast, going back down the stairs. _Yes, Isabelle has Magnus. I’m on my way. What’s the cover story?_ Clary texts him through the group chat, minus Simon. _Iz, we’re saying that you brought M as your friend over break. Alec, pretend you haven’t seen him before. Go with this, guys, it should work._ Alec jogs down the stairs and curves around the landing, running right into Jace.

 

         “Ow, dude, nice to see you,” Jace says, giving him a bro hug. Alec returns it.

 

         “Alexander. Hello,” his mother says, giving him a quick hug. Her face is perfectly made up, and all she holds is her purse.

 

         “Hi, mom. How was England?” he asks, smiling.

         “It was lovely, thank you. Where’s Isabelle?”

 

         “COMING, MOM!” Isabelle’s voice comes from the top of the stairs, and they hear hushed giggles. Isabelle slides neatly around Alec, pulling Magnus with her.

 

         “Who’re you?” Jace asks, giving Magnus a once-over. Alec raises an eyebrow, trying to play along.

 

         “Good question, Jace. Isabelle, who’s your friend?” Maryse’s voice is razor sharp.

 

         “I’m Magnus Bane,” Magnus says, holding out a hand. “Isabelle’s friend. I came with her for a few days, and then I leave Christmas Day for my family’s place, in-“

 

         “You’re not Isabelle’s friend,” Maryse says shrewdly. “Yes, you’ve met before, but the one you keep looking at is… my son. Alexander. I knew I recognized your name –you’re his roommate, aren’t you? Please don’t lie to me, children, you know I can figure that out. Now, Magnus Bane, are you staying with us for Christmas break?” Magnus nods, not speaking. Maryse’s mouth is a thin line. “Alright. You sleep in a separate bedroom from my sons, do you hear? Otherwise, you’re out.” With that, she tosses her purse and coat on the bench next to the door and goes up the stairs.

 

         “Jesus Christ, your mom…” Magnus trails off. “You know, she looks kind of familiar. What’s her name?” The four trade a look.

 

“My mom’s name is Maryse Lightwood, and she’s the CEO of Lightwood Inc.,” Alec ventures. “The tech company.”

 

         “I know who she is,” Magnus says, eyes narrowing in accusation. “Lightwood Inc. was part of the conspiracy with Morgenstern and Co., Herondale Industries, Wayland Corps, and Graymark Crafters. Your mom is famous. Y’know, I was kind of right about the mafia thing,” he says, taking a step back from all of them. “Your mother is dangerous.”

 

**End of Chapter Eight** _(at 3,538 words)_


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, my God. Apologies. So many. Almost 2 months??? I AM SO SORRY AHHHHHH I HOPE PEOPLE ARE STILL FOLLOWING THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you enjoy it, too!

Chapter Nine

~~~~~~~~~~Tuesday, December 24, 8 PM~~~~~~~~~~

“Jesus, Izzy, that’s basically lingerie,” Simon says, trying not to ogle her. 

“I know, Simon dear,” Isabelle says breezily. “But who cares? Mom leaves tomorrow morning for Amsterdam, and Dad just called in and said he won’t be here until after New Year’s, per usual. So… we’re alone. And I don’t care.” Clary snorts, buttoning up her too-large flannel plaid button down. Alec looks at her and Jace in slight surprise- their relationship was pretty far along, but wearing each other’s clothes? Really? Alec tries not to grimace. 

“What are your guys’ traditions before Christmas? I mean, Christmas Eve,” Magnus corrects himself. He’s wearing silky black pants with vines trailing up, with a big burst of berries right over his crotch and a ribbed white tank top. Jace looks at Alec and Isabelle for help, so Alec volunteers. 

“There aren’t many. We put out the cookies and milk for Santa- which Jace eats around midnight after birth-of-Jesus celebratory sex with Clary-“

“Alec!” Clary cries, burying her head in Jace’s neck. Jace winks at him and threads his hand in Clary’s red curls, whispering something into her ear. 

“Anyway,” Alec continues. “Let’s see. We all share stories of Christmas past, like the time Dad’s affair knocked on the door and requested to join our festivities. We tell each other what we want for Christmas, as if presents haven’t already been bought. We watch old Christmas movies, and rotate them every three years or so. Elf, It’s A Wonderful Life, Love Actually, Polar Express-“

“Elf is like my favorite movie ever!” Magnus interjected. “Last Christmas I watched it with Camille, Tessa, Will, and Jem.” 

“Jem who?” asks Jace, narrowing his eyes.

“Carstairs,” Magnus replies, pulling out a stick of eyeliner and redoing it expertly in his phone’s selfie camera. “Why do you ask?”

“I did a concert with him once,” says Jace, elated. “I was on piano and he was on violin. It was amazing, actually.” Magnus smiles, lips curving up.

“Jem is very talented,” Magnus says proudly. “I’ve known him for quite a bit. He and Will Herondale are practically attached at the hip,” he giggles. Alec sees Clary and Isabelle trade a look, and then rolls his eyes.

“They’re not dating, Izzy and Clary. They’re just… really good friends, and they have the same girlfriend?” He phrases it as a question, looking at Magnus for confirmation. 

“Correct, as usual. Continue with the Christmas traditions!” he cries, throwing his hands in the air. “Really, is that it?” The other five trade looks. It’s really Alec, Izzy, and Jace that have the traditions- Clary and Simon are relatively new, compared to ten years + of traditions before that. 

“I think so,” Isabelle begins tentatively. She’s about to say something else, but Jace interrupts her.

“I have a tradition!” He brushes his golden hair out of his face and straightens up on the couch next to Clary. “We play Truth or Dare until 11.” Alec groans.

“I was seriously hoping you’d forget about that,” he says, burying his face in his hands dramatically. “Magnus did not need to know about that game. And nothing really exciting has happened for a while.” 

“I can change that,” says Magnus excitedly, rubbing his hands together. “We can’t play it in a public place like this,” he says, gesturing to the room. “It has windows and stuff. is there somewhere else we can go?”

“Have you seen this house?” Isabelle asks, jumping up from her couch with Simon. “There are tons of places we can go… let’s do basement,” she says, looking at Jace and Alec to make sure that’s fine. They both nod. “Mom hasn’t gone down there since… at least five years ago. We were having a particularly good party and I think she fainted. Anyway, let’s go!” She bounces out of the room, forcing everyone to follow her. 

“At some point you’ll have to give me the grand tour,” Magnus whispers into Alec’s ear, making him jump. “I haven’t even seen, like, a fourth of this place.” Alec nods shakily, tugging at a loose thread in his shirt. Magnus withdraws from him, leaving the fantastic scent of his cologne behind. 

“Down the stairs, down the stairs,” Isabelle says, herding everyone down the stairs to the basement and then following. Alec hears the click of the lock in the door and then flops onto the giant couch when he gets inside. 

Their basement is cavernous, a gigantic room. It has low ceilings with inset lights and different, movable upholstery. There’s a bar, stocked with everything from Perrier to the best of Russian vodka. Everyone chooses a drink- Alec, feeling mildly adventurous, chooses a light beer. Magnus mixes himself a complicated looking drink, utilizing everything behind the bar with ease. When he notices Alec looking at him, he smiles, cat-like. “Bartended for awhile when I was in my teens. Shitty job but paid the bills and gave me these skills,” he says, dashing something red into his glass and then stoppering the bottle. 

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Jace says, waving everyone onto the various seats. He and Clary share a loveseat, her small frame curled into his bigger one. Isabelle, looking only slightly disdainful, sits in her own throne-like chair, leaving Simon to shake his head and sprawl out onto a couch. Magnus glances around, assessing the situation quickly, and then sits on the opposite end of the couch as Alec. Alec curls into himself, pulling in his gangly frame. He sees Magnus watching him and his face heats up. “Alec, we’re starting!” Jace says, and Alec starts, and then sees that everyone else is paying attention and has a square of paper in their hand. He reaches forward hastily and takes the last one. The number on it-four- is written in a fast, tight handwriting, one that’s mildly familiar. He’s seen it written on receipts and little notes: Alec- I won’t be back tonight, catch you tomorrow. MB, or Got a new coffee maker- it’s hidden in my desk- try it out if you want to! MB. 

“What does this mean?” Alec asks, waving around his slip of paper. Isabelle and Magnus trade sighs.

“Just whoever goes first- I’m number one,” Magnus says, putting his slip back on the glass coffee table. Everyone else does the same, and Alec takes a sip of his drink. Usually he doesn’t like beer- he thinks it tastes like cow pee- but tonight it slides down his throat and settles in his stomach, lifting his mood marginally. Magnus looks around and his gaze lands on Clary. She cowers into Jace theatrically. “Relax, I’m not going to make you… crossdress and go get candy from the supermarket,” he says evilly. Everyone looks at him in surprise. “How far away is it? I saw one that was right up the block, just a Walgreens. It’ll take fifteen minutes, tops.” Clary shakes her head, grinning.

“Fine. Whose clothes am I going to borrow?” Simon jumps up and runs out of the room for a second, and then returns with a suitcase. 

“I brought it down in case we slept down here,” he says, blushing. “But you can choose. I also have a hat in there, for hair.” Clary looks at him thoughtfully.

“Thanks, Si.” She rummages through the suitcase until she comes up with some jeans, a belt, a shirt with THE WHO emblazoned across it, and the hat. She looks around and says, “Should I just change here?” 

“Jace has seen every part of you, Izzy’s a girl, I’m sure you’ve been in a bathing suit in front of Simon and Alec, and I’m gay as they come,” Magnus says, counting off his long fingers. “So yes, I think you’re okay.” Clary shrugs and pulls up the jeans, since all she’s wearing is a shirt. Jace helps her buckle and then she turns to face him, taking off her shirt. Jace hands her the band tshirt and she pulls it over her head, wincing.   
“Jesus, Lewis, when did you last wash this?” 

“I don’t know,” says Simon, looking mildly embarrassed. “I haven’t worn it in a few weeks.”

“If you wear it, you wash it,” puts in Magnus, looking affronted. “Well, if you’re in public. If you’re in private and don’t spill anything, you should be fine.” 

Alec is staring at Magnus with a look of horror. “That’s why all of my laundry detergent suddenly disappeared? You said you had nothing to do with that!” Magnus grins, putting a sympathetic hand on Alec’s arm. 

“Honey, keeping my clothes in shape was much more a priority. You can get dingy gray shirts and guy jeans anywhere. Limited edition Eli Tahari are, as I just said, limited edition. That means they’re only on sale for a limited amount of time. Keeping them in prime condition is my- and should be your- first priority,” Magnus says kindly. Alec feels chastised, and Jace flicks a paper airplane onto the tip of his nose. 

“Pay attention, Alec, he’s telling you important things here,” Jace says seriously, and Alec can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or not. He goes with yes. 

“Shut the fuck up, Jace,” he says goodnaturedly, and takes a swig of his beer. Jace’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise and he nods, seemingly impressed. He’s about to say something- praising Alec for his gutsiness, probably- but Alec interrupts him with, “and answer the FaceTime call. It’s Clary, and she’s probably at Walgreens.” Jace shuts his mouth and opens the call.

“Hey, guys,” says Clary, her voice tinny. Simon jumps up with a look of a memory crossing his face, and goes to fiddle wih the techno stuff by the TV. 

“Jace, gimme the phone,” he says, and Jace tosses him the phone. 

“Gonna talk with my girlfriend, Lewis?” Simon rolls his eyes.

“I’m gonna repeat the sweet words of your half-brother, and say: shut the fuck up, Jace.” Isabelle and Magnus golf-clap, and Simon looks pleased. Then he runs a hand through his brown curls and starts fiddling with the phone, some cords, and the TV.

Suddenly, Clary’s face is fullscreen on their 85 inch screen TV. Her voice booms out of the speaker, still high and sweet. “I’m walking to Walgreens,” she tells them. “It’s cold as fuck out and your shirt is, like, starting to smell worse, Simon. I’ve only seen a few people, but Homer gave me some weird looks.” Alec, Isabelle, Jace, Simon and Alec laugh. Magnus looks around at them, green gold eyes wide. Alec comes to his rescue and leans over to explain.

“It’s a nickname we gave to a homeless guy that’s basically been here as long as we have. His skin’s kinda yellow and he only has three or four hairs coming out of his head, plus he always has a beer in hand… therefore, Homer, like the Simpson.” Maybe Alec’s leaning a little closer to Magnus because of the alcohol, or maybe he’s overcompensating because he doesn’t want to fall off the couch. Magnus nods at Alec’s explanation and then gently pushes Alec up. 

“Hold your liquor, Alexander, or I’ll have to take it,” he says, pinching the beer bottle top in between his thumb and forefinger. Alec tries to remember to breath as Magnus’s fingertip touches his, and fails.

“Okay, I’m here,” Clary announces, startling Alec and Magnus. Alec tips back and lies against the arm of the couch, blue eyes aimed at the ceiling. I fucked up, he thinks fuzzily. Never mind. I haven’t yet, but if I keep drinking I probably- definitely- will. Put down the beer. Against his will, he sets the beer down on the coffee table. Magnus smiles at him, green eyes filled with warmth and mirth simultaneously. “I’m going in… I’m going to pretend I’m calling someone. The camera will face outward. Shit, what should I buy? Do I have money? Oh, Simon has five bucks in his jeans pocket. Thanks, Simon,” she says, grinning at the screen. Simon coughs.

“I kinda need that five bucks… struggling college student over here,” he calls faintly. “Apparently the only one,” he mutters to himself, though Alec can hear him. It’s true, he thinks, looking at Simon. All the rest of us are… monetarily gifted. I don’t really know about Magnus, though with the clothes he buys, he must be. Huh. Does Simon know we’d lend him money any time? Maybe I should ask. He resolves to think about it later.

“Okay, guys, really. What should I buy?” The answers that come are varied: cigarettes, alcohol, condoms, tampons, birth control, Viagra, Sour Patch Kids. Clary laughs at them all. 

“Viagra,” she decides. “Alright, I’m going in.” The TV goes fuzzy and then her camera is faced outward, looking at the dingy white of the Walgreens store and the bright, neon red of the sign. Alec has a sudden flood of memory, of times sneaking in there with Jace and accompanying while he buys condoms, alcohol, anything. Going in there with Isabelle and Clary and awkwardly standing there while they debate tampon choices. Going in there with Max and buying mini lightsabers- blue for Alec and green for Max, because green means good guys. Alec shuts that memory down fast. He must look weird, because Magnus leans over and taps him. His face is filled with concern, and Alec feels a rush of affection. No matter the awkward romantic feelings, at least he’s made a good friend.

“You okay, Alexander?” Magnus asks. Alec shrugs.

“I’m fine. Bad memory.” In response, Magnus pulls Alec closer and pushes his head down onto his shoulder. Alec feels comforted, close to someone in a way he’s never known. Magnus gives Alec a light squeeze on the shoulder and then lets him go, smiling sympathetically. 

“Look, Alec, it’s that girl from junior high!” Jace points to a blonde girl in the cards section. “Damn, she grew up nicely.” 

“I think you forgot that I can hear you,” says Clary tartly. “So for the third time tonight: shut the fuck up, Jace.” Everyone giggles, and takes a sip of their drink. 

“If you can hear me, then hurry back,” Jace says. “I wanna keep going with this.” Clary sighs audibly, and then the camera swings until they can see the FEMININE CARE, MALE EXCLUSIVES, CONTRACEPTIVES section. The Viagra is stuffed unobtrusively in the middle, without a sign or anything. The phone swings from side to side- Clary looking around, probably- and then she grabs a box. 

“Okay, I’ll pay. What’s the membership number?” Jace, Isabelle, and Alec trade looks.

“Just say it’s the Lightwoods,” Isabelle ventures. “She should know. If not, just pay. It doesn’t matter.” Magnus looks at them curiously, and Alec feels the need to tell Magnus why the cashier would know them. But maybe it’s better for Magnus to stay in the dark. 

The camera swings again to reveal the candy aisle, right next to the cashier (a moment of weakness, since you have your money out, some other sketchy people, and then… Skylar? “Alec, isn’t that your friend?” Magnus asks, right on time. He swallows as he feels everyone’s eyes turn to him.

“Yeah,” he says weakly. “Skylar Torte. She’s my friend. But I thought she lived in Virginia. Sutton told me she left almost a week ago.” Magnus looks at him curiously. “I’ll ask her about it when we get back from break,” he hastens to add. “Really, I will.” Magnus snorts quietly, but turns back to the TV. Everyone else follows suit.

“Uh, here…” Clary puts the Viagra down on the counter, affecting her voice to make it deeper. “The name is Lightwood,” she says, trying to sound impressive. The blonde girl- the one Jace was talking about, thinks Alec- whirls around, in the middle of swiping a red lipstick wand across her lips for a try. She marches over to Clary- well, the girl doesn’t know it’s Clary- her stilettos clicking on the linoleum floor. Clary looks startled and puts the five dollar bill on the counter. As she looks up to tell the cashier something, the phone wobbles in Clary’s hand and then falls to the floor. As it falls, it twists and turns, but they manage to catch the girl’s brightly painted blue fingernails swiping across Clary’s face. 

“You tell that Jace Lightwood that he can go fuck himself,” she hisses. The phone screen is down, which means they’re watching everything from a weird angle. Jace has since jumped out of his seat and is inches away from the TV screen, looking mutinous. The cashier- whose grainy face is in the corner of the screen- looks wholly unsurprised, like this happens every day. She rings up the purchase and hands the bag to Clary. 

“Have a nice night,” she says, looking bored. “Next?”

“Fuck yourself too!” The girl screams, looking rabid. Clary picks up the phone and hurries out of the store, switching it to selfie mode.

“Holy shit.” Everyone nods along with her. “That was weird. I wanna get home, I don’t feel safe here.” She rushes along the sidewalk, her face filled with fear. They hear the door to the house open through the phone and from their own ears simultaneously. After a few moments, Clary careens down the stairs and into Jace’s arms. He holds her and strokes her hair for a few seconds, and then sniffs. 

“Clary, you smell awful. Oh my God. Change.” He thruths her at Simon and she strips, putting on her- well, Jace’s- own clean t-shirt. Then she curls into Jace again. 

“Well, that was interesting,” Magnus remarks. “Shall we continue?” Everyone looked around at each other- it was clear that the blonde girl had sapped their excitement. 

“I think we’re good, Magnus,” says Isabelle. “It’s nine thirty anyway. Let’s get our presents and put them under the tree, and then go to bed? Alec, you can show Magnus a guest room,” she says, already going up the stairs. Alec nods to himself, already mentally flipping through the rooms available. All of Alec’s gifts are in his suitcase, so he goes to get it from his room. Magnus follows him. 

“Nice room,” his roommate says, loitering in the hallway. Alec waves him in. “I don’t have presents for anyone except you… oh, and kind of Isabelle. I got something that I thought, based on what you’ve said and the background on your laptop, she’d like.” 

Alec thinks of his background- oh. Isabelle, the lovely mastermind that she was, had hired a professional photographer the summer after senior year. Her argument was “We’ve never looked better, Mom and Dad will like them, you can use them for different stuff, and it’ll be nice to have big, pretty photos of all of us. Trust me, you’ll love them!” And Alec had. Isabelle had found a date, herded them to Central Park, and ordered them to do cute things while the photographer clicked away. They had run around, played tag, made a five person pyramid, and put everyone with pairs. Alec’s pair was conspicuously absent. Clary and Jace. Alec and Jace. Izzy and Clary. Izzy and Simon. Clary and Simon. Alec and Simon (they both knew how to shoot, so they scavenged bows and arrows from nearby LARPers and went back to back). Simon and Jace fighting over Clary. Simon in between Izzy and Clary. Jace in between Alec and Clary. Clary made daisy chains for all of them and they posed. It was great fun and tons of photos came out of it. Alec’s background was the five of them with their arms around each other, laughing their heads off. It’s easily his favorite picture of the bunch, though the ones of him and Simon turned out surprisingly well. 

“Alec?” Magnus says tentatively. “You there?” Alec starts and turns around. Magnus looks relieved. “Sorry, think you zoned out a minute there. I was just worried.” Alec’s heart stutters. 

“Sorry. Uh, here, let me put my presents downstairs and then I’ll show you to your room,” he says, grabbing the huge Macy’s bag that holds all of his gifts. Without waiting to see if Magnus is behind him, he barrels down the stairs and turns into the living room- “AH! MY EYES!” He drops to the floor dramatically and covers his eyes, trying to erase the mental image of Clary’s shirt up and Jace’s hands on her chest.

“Not like you haven’t seen it- or done it- before,” Jace says nonchalantly. “Speaking of, you have to give me the details of all your chicks before break is over.” He waves a finger threateningly, and both Magnus and Clary look straight at Alec. 

“Will do, bro,” Alec says, smiling forcedly. He gets up and lurches forward, letting the gift bags and boxes spill out under the tree. Isabelle’s signature wrapping paper- pink with black stilettos- is already there. Then there are Simon’s, brown bags flattened and compressed into paper. Struggling college student indeed, Alec thinks, surprised. At least my gift is on point. 

“Alright, we’ll see you tomorrow,” Jace says, pulling Clary with him as they leave the room. “Merry Christmas Eve!” 

End of Chapter Nine (at 3,530 words)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the rest of Christmas Eve Night, starring Alec and Magnus, and then probably Christmas morning/day. We shall see. Hopefully not as big of a time lapse, right? Sorry again!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's no apology that could suffice for this lateness, but I am so, so sorry. This chapter isn't super long, but hopefully enough to tide you over. Unsure how long the next one will be, or when it'll come.

**Chapter Ten**

~~~~~~~~~Tuesday, December 24, 10 PM~~~~~~~~~~

Magnus’s scarf: [https://www.gucci.com/no/en_gb/pr/women/womens-accessories/womens-silks-scarves/womens-scarves/feathers-print-silk-scarf-p-3907353G0011075?position=17&listName=ProductGridWComponent&categoryPath=Women/Womens-Accessories/Womens-Silks-Scarves/Womens-Scarves](https://www.gucci.com/no/en_gb/pr/women/womens-accessories/womens-silks-scarves/womens-scarves/feathers-print-silk-scarf-p-3907353G0011075?position=17&listName=ProductGridWComponent&categoryPath=Women/Womens-Accessories/Womens-Silks-Scarves/Womens-Scarves)

 

         “Again, why are we in downtown Manhattan at ten on Christmas Eve?” Alec grumbles, pulling his hat farther down over his ears. Magnus elbows him playfully.

 

         “Because I need gifts for Jace, Simon, and Clary. And a better one for your sister,” Magnus says. “Everywhere is still open, because it’s Christmas Eve. I have my own money. Seriously, chill. It’ll be fine.” Alec snorts under his breath, white puffs of cold air coming out. “Alright, my first stop is Hermes for scarves. They just had one come out that I think Clary will like.” They duck into the score and blink in the bright light.

 

         “Magnus! Good gracious, what a long time it’s been.” A gorgeous woman with eyes similar to Alec’s and dark hair swept up into a loose chignon strides toward them. She’s not an employee, though.

 

         “Mrs. Linette Owens. A pleasure,” Magnus says, gracefully bending down and pressing his lips to her hand. “Why are you in town?”

 

         “Oh, Edmund wanted to go see William, Tessa, and Jem on tour before they stopped. They’re not stopping in London this time- well, no. They did, but Edmund… missed it.” Her fingers flutter at her sides. “Anyway, why are you here so late?”

 

         “Buying gifts for some friends,” Magnus says easily. “What are _you_ doing out here so late?” Linette smiles.

 

         “Edmund is a few stores down, getting me a gift. I said I’d wait here.” Linette shares a look with Magnus, and he gets the hint. “Alec, let’s get Clary’s scarf, and be on our way. I’m sure Mrs. Owens would like to browse on her own,” he teases. Linette embraces Magnus lightly, and he ducks to kiss her cheek. “I will see you soon, darling. Good to see you here.” Magnus hustles Alec away to the register and rattles off some complicated thing about a scarf.

 

         “Edmund is getting drunk and gambling,” he whispers in Alec’s ear, smiling at the employee watching them. “She didn’t want you to know. She wanted you to have a good impression.”

 

         “How’d you know?” Alec asks, astounded. Magnus twirls his fingers.

 

         “Sign language, darling Alec. The whole time. Pay better attention next time,” he says kindly. Alec sighs. Magnus is full of secrets; sometimes Alec thinks he’ll never know the half of them. “Off to Toys R’ Us!” Magnus twirls outside of the story, his tan cheeks tinted slightly red and white puffs of air coming out of his mouth, like he’s smoking a pipe.

 

         “What and who are you getting there?” Alec asks, hurrying to keep up. Magnus stops outside of the huge store, looking up at the brightly lit sign.

 

         “Jace and Simon.”

 

         “Toys ‘R’ Us, I can see that…” Alec mumbles.

 

         “…And they don’t really seem like the type to appreciate a good suit or designer sweater,” Magnus finishes, striding inside. Suddenly they’re bombed with colors and sounds, children screaming and the huge ride above them moving slowly, filled with _more_ screaming children. Magnus steers Alec in front of him, letting Alec’s tall, slightly-more-bulky-than-Magnus’s frame bulldoze a path through the a-little-drunk fathers and harried mothers who didn’t have time to get gifts in the weeks past. Finally, they’re at the back, where the more expensive- and dare Alec say designer?- toys are. Magnus’s nimble fingers skim over the remote controlled-Jeeps, soft superhero t-shirts, 10,000 piece Legos, and then land on a hundred dollar helicopter set. There are two mini helicopters, with two remote controls, batteries already inside, and each of them have a _camera_ , for spying.

 

         “Jace can appreciate a good designer sweater…” Alec starts weakly, but his voice is drowned out by the blare of a fake fire truck controlled by a three year old. Such as his life goes.

 

         “DONE WITH THE BOYS,” Magnus shouts, his thin fingers grasping Alec’s shoulder. “LET’S GO, CLARY IS LEFT!” Suddenly Alec feels lips on his ear- _what the fuck?_ “Can I have a piggy-back ride?” Magnus whispers, his lips velvety soft. Alec can’t resist, even though he wishes he could. In response, he sighs theatrically and crouches down, not before taking the helicopter set from Magnus. Magnus clambers up, arms cording around Alec’s neck and leg’s squeezing his hips. _Jesus Christ._ Alec takes off, running as fast as he can with an uneven gait and Magnus whooping the whole time. Just an hour ago, they were playing Truth or Dare. Now they’re here.

 

         “We’re at the cash regis-“ Alec starts as Magnus neatly flips over his head and lands in Alec’s outstretched arms. He barely weighs _anything,_ a waif in Neiman Marcus. Both of their eyes are wide, and Alec can feel Magnus’s heart beating like a metronome set too high. He sets him down gently, letting go of his back with slight reluctance. Magnus gives a bright smile to the overwhelmed cashier and hands her his debit card.

 

         “You still owe $19.55,” she says, twirling a lock of dark blonde hair around her finger. She looks Alec up and down, her eyes lazy, dragging on his (tight?) t-shirt and resting on his messy black hair. Alec swallows hard. Magnus slaps a $20 dollar bill down on the table, grabs Alec’s hand, and pulls him out of the store with Jace’s present in a bright red bag. Alec doesn’t look back at the girl once.

 

         “Where to now?” he asks, highly aware of the fact that his hand is still in Magnus’s. Magnus skips forward, forcing Alec to jog alongside him.

 

         “Paint store,” he says merrily. “I want Clary to paint me something. Has she ever done animals, do you know?”

 

         “As far as I know, the only thing she’s done is Jace,” Alec mumbles, blushing a little. He’s not really the joke type, but he couldn’t resist. Magnus laughs out loud and twirls Alec around. Alec has never been twirled before, and it’s a bit dizzying. All of a sudden they’re way too close together and Alec can’t move, can’t do anything, it’s like his feet are stuck in the ground and his eyes drowning in Magnus’s. Magnus holds his gaze, but those eyes are unreadable. Alec is sure his are an open book. Magnus leans in slightly, and Alec’s eyes flutter. He has _never_ been so close to someone that’s not family before. Magnus’s lips brush his cheek and then the warmth is gone. Magnus twirls himself away, his land easily leaving Alec’s. Alec’s hand falls to his side limply.

 

         “You know what’s around here, Alexander?” Magnus says thoughtfully, tapping his chin. Alec shakes his head no, knowing Magnus already has an answer in mind. “One of the best liquor stores in the city,” Magnus answers himself. “C’mon, let’s get some.” Alec opens his mouth to protest but then finds he doesn’t actually want to. Instead, he runs a hand through his hair and takes long strides to catch up with Magnus, whose black silk Gucci scarf ripples in the wind.

 

         When they enter the store, Alec is overcome by the sheer amount of alcohol in one building. His first thought is that it must be illegal- but, of course it’s not. Just off-limits to Alec. He’s only had a few drinks in his life, and most have been on holidays. The drinking earlier in the night- out of character for Alec, but Magnus… is a bad influence. Magnus scans the shelves, clearly knowing what he’s looking for. “What,” Alec says, recovering his voice, “exactly, are you looking for?”

 

         “Good rum,” Magnus replies, fingers dancing over the glass bottles. Alec watches him, cheeks reddening. Magnus glances over. “Is something wrong?”

 

         “N-no,” Alec stammers, desperately willing himself to _calm down and stop blushing, for God’s sake!_ “I just don’t drink very much.” _At all_.

        

         “Oh, that’s fine,” Magnus says, rolling his eyes. “You don’t have to have any if you don’t want to.”

 

         “I didn’t say that,” Alec interjects. “I was just… telling you my experience.” Magnus gives him a wink and moves to the checkout register. “Here, I got it,” Alec says, slim fingers pulling the bottle out of Magnus’s hands. Magnus doesn’t even argue, just crosses his arms and watches Alec expectantly. Alec gulps and walks up to the register. A pretty dark haired girl is standing there, dark blue eyeshadow bringing out her eyes. She looks Alec up and down, and then takes the bottle from him.

 

         “Will that be all today?” Alec nods affirmatively. “ID, please.” His eyebrows shoot up and he fishes his wallet out of his pocket and slides out his driver’s license. He almost hadn’t gotten it- he lives in New York, and has a driver- but Jace had persuaded him so that they could drink together. He hands it over to the girl and her eyebrows shoot up. She hands it back quickly, rings up his purchase and then hands him the receipt after turning away for a moment. Magnus snorts behind him, and he doesn’t understand why. Magnus grabs the bag and tows him out of the store.

 

         “Let me see that,” Magnus says, rifling through the paper surrounding the rum. “Oh, good lord.” He shows the paper to Alec. The girl’s name- Lydia- is written on it, as well as her number, in spiky black handwriting. Magnus is about to crumple it up and throw it in the nearest trashcan before Alec stops him. “Um, what are you doing?”

 

         “Keeping that receipt,” Alec responds, putting it back in the bag. Magnus stares at him, brows drawn together.

 

         “Mmm… Alexander, I thought you were gay.” Magnus’s voice rings out across the sidewalk, and Alec reflexively looks around to make sure no one’s staring. He lowers his own voice first.

 

         “I _am_ ,” he says, swallowing hard. “Doesn’t mean I can’t date a girl though. Or I can’t bring her home for dinner or something.” Magnus’s light gaze hardens.

 

         “Like a beard or something. A cover up.” Alec nods, relieved, but then he senses something is wrong. Magnus’s voice is too clipped and hard for him to be joking around. “Let’s get back to your place, I want to go to sleep.” Alec has never heard Magnus say those words except before midterms.

 

         “If that’s what you want,” Alec says carefully, not looking at him directly. “Here, let me call Hodge-“ but when he looks up, Magnus has already hailed a taxi and is climbing inside. “Hey, wait!” Alec jogs after him and climbs into the car. “Were you even going to wait for me?”

 

         “Hadn’t decided yet,” Magnus answers in a remote voice, crossing his legs and staring out the window. Alec gives the driver their address, and the car pulls back into traffic.

 

         “Magnus.” Alec says, his voice gentle. “Come on. I don’t like girls. You know that. Why is it bothering you?” Magnus doesn’t answer. Alec moves closer and puts a hand on his shoulder, his intense gaze on Magnus’s turned-around face missing the little jump in his shoulders.

 

         “It’s not,” Magnus says lightly, nudging Alec’s hand off of his shoulder. “We’re at your driveway, c’mon. Let’s go get smashed before Christmas.”

**End of Chapter 10** _(at 1,844 words)_

**Author's Note:**

> Leave kudos and comments!


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